Linguini with Clams – Red or White Wine?

Jump to recipe

Vermentino:  Tablas Creek 2012 – Pairing Rating:  10.0 out of 10.0

Barbaresco:  Produttori Pora Vineyard 2011 – Pairing Rating:  9.5

Clam – one of most adaptable words we know. Add an “-s” and it can refer to money. Add a “-my” and it makes for a less-than-appealing handshake.  Follow “clam” with “up” and you get a 5^th Amendment-taker. But preface the word with “linguini” and you have something sublime.

Recipes for Linguini with Clams abound on the Internet, but the one we favor is from Ristorante Osteria Da Fiore, one of Venice’s famous restaurants. Our adaptation of their recipe can be found at the end of this post.

Linguini with Clams is a favorite of ours for its relative ease of preparation, especially when you use canned chopped clams, as we did here. (We added fresh Manila Clams (cockles) to make the photo more appealing). Moreover, this recipe adds fresh tomatoes, something most versions don’t. We like the freshness they bring to the clams and the pasta.

• 

• 

Nearly all providers of wine pairing guidance, recommend a white wine grape with this dish. We don’t disagree, but as you’ve probably gathered from reading our blog, we generally have a strong point-of-view about which grape. And in this case, it’s Vermentino. Other pairing providers suggest about 6 grapes. Six is not helpful; we want to give you our best thinking.

Vermentino is primarily grown in Sardinia, Liguria, Southern France, and California. Preferring the unoaked style (or neutral oak), we thought California’s Tablas Creek Vermentino 2012 ($28) would be ideal.  It did not disappoint.

• 

• 

The Tablas Creek introduced itself with a nose of ripe, rich pineapple and Meyer lemon. On the palate, a zesty, minerally attack was followed by fresh pears, ripe melon and tropical fruits, with a long finish where the sweet fruit outlasted the minerality.  This beautiful Vermentino had just enough acid to stand up to the tomatoes and the olive oil without overpowering the clam flavors. Our guest, Merle, thought the wine’s balance made for an ideal pairing with the dish. Impressive how characterful this Tablas Creek wine was after 6 years of bottle age.

It is not lost on us that many, lured by the tomatoes in this recipe, may prefer to pair it with red wine. Experience tells us that it must be a lighter-styled red so as not to overpower. And while there are several examples of lighter reds (Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sangiovese, to name a few), we elected to go Italian, favoring the Nebbiolo grape grown around the village of Barbaresco. The wine was from the Produttori co-operative with grapes sourced from the Pora Vineyard in 2011($57).

• 

• 

The beautiful brick color of the Barbaresco was just beginning to show some age.  On the nose, we were treated to red fruits, leather and a hint of fresh tobacco.  On the palate, the wine tasted of red cherries and gently warmed strawberries, immediately followed by fine tannins and a mineral spine. Over the long finish, the tannins and acidity slowly dissolved allowing the complex fruit flavors to emerge. Comparable in weight and fruit content to the Vermentino, this Barbaresco is the more dominant pairing and will appeal to those seeking more drama, more structure and less sweetness.  

Both the Vermentino and Barbaresco are excellent food wines, capable of many more food pairing ideas. We encourage you to seek out these wines . . . and give this recipe a shot.