What to drink ... with pasta
Wines shouldn't overpower the food when matched with Italian cuisine.
UP TO $25
Oakridge Over the Shoulder Pinot Noir 2012 $23
Over The Shoulder is Oakridge's easy-drinking label, with fruit sourced from all over the Yarra Valley. This fresh pinot noir is a beauty, quite subtle yet fragrant with florals and spice, a hint of menthol with plum and cherry fruit. It's medium-bodied, savoury with soft, fine tannins yet some grip on the finish alongside blood orange and zest flavours that make this a delicious if uncomplicated drink. And it's a bargain. A match to the Piedmontese pasta known as tajarin, topped with an earthy mushroom ragu. From oakridgewines.com.au.
UP TO $30
Mesh Eden Valley Riesling 2012 $26
Cafe Di Stasio makes several of my favourite pasta dishes, including angel hair with crab that often features as a special. The fine pasta is served flecked with the sweet crab meat and herbs so it needs a wine that doesn't dominate and, while a pinot bianco would be perfect, so too riesling, but one where the acid isn't harsh. Mesh works a treat. The gorgeous Eden Valley fruit shines in this 2012 with its fragrant nose of florals with some citrus and distinctive wet pebble character. Lively, chalky acidity with quite a minerally drive. From Dan Murphy's.
OVER $40
Jamsheed Yarra Syrah 2012 $48
Winemaker Gary Mills is just a wee bit in love with syrah - he makes five with fruit sourced from disparate, intriguing vineyards in the Yarra Valley, Beechworth, the Pyrenees and Great Western. In this gorgeous wine from Yarra Glen, expect some raspberry sherbet and peppery notes, and florals; it's earthy, deep and loaded with fantastic fruit. On the palate, it's medium-bodied, very bright and juicy, sapid with amazing tannin structure and very savoury. I confess to adding a decent glug to a bolognese sauce - best spag bol ever. From jamsheed.com.au.
SPLURGE
Kooyong Farrago Chardonnay 2011 $60
Kooyong's two 2011 single-vineyard chardonnays - the other is Faultline - have just been released and both are outstanding. Farrago is precise, long on the finish and strikes a fine balance between richness, texture and tightness on the palate. Plenty of lime-citrus notes with stone fruit, appealing match-strike sulphides and bright, crunchy acidity make this a very pure, classy wine. And because of the texture and acidity, this partners brilliantly with pumpkin ravioli with mustard fruits and burnt butter sauce. From portphillipestate .com.au.