Chicken alla Cacciatore – Red or White Wine?

Verdicchio: Villa Bucci Classico Superiore 2022

Fiano di Avellino: Romano Clelia Colli di Lapio 2021

Had a nightmare where I was living in Boston this winter. Three feet of snow and single-digit temperatures – conditions only Alaskans can tolerate. The frightening part of the dream was not the frostbite, nor falling icicles. No, the worst part was I couldn’t get to my grill! This inspired me to find a recipe I could cook indoors that would warm the soul and brighten the mood:  Chicken Cacciatore – more interesting than a chili or stew, but just as soulful.

Cacciatore means “Hunter” in Italian. The dish is often tagged “Hunter’s Style”, making reference to the tomatoes, onions and garlic common to all Cacciatore variations.   Unclear to Trish and me as to why those ingredients equate to “hunters”, but so be it. We understand that the dish is made with white wine in Northern Italy; red wine in Southern Italy. We chose the Northern version.

Recipe: Chicken Cacciatore – Hunter Style

We made some minor alterations to the excellent recipe. Added about 12 oil-cured black olives for color and saltiness, as well as using shiitake mushrooms (vs. cremini) for earthy flavors; and we added 3 oz. of sauteed pancetta. The dish was superb. The real challenge was with the wine pairing.

Because we chose white wine as an ingredient for the Cacciatore, our wine pairing focus was also on white wine. To narrow the field, we sought advice from Master of Wine Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan.

In Jennifer’s superb book Pairing with the Masters, she recommends Gewürztraminer for its spicy, contrasting flavors and its light acidity, where the tomatoes actually refresh the wine. Sort of a reverse cleanse. For this, we chose a Gewürztraminer from the Pfalz region of Germany that delivered a spicy but sweet nose of tropical fruit and a honeyed finish.   The flavors were clearly contrasting, but we found them to be overpowering. The wine took over like Jim Carrey in almost any movie scene. Perhaps a more acidic wine like an Italian Verdicchio might deliver the contrast we sought. For that, we chose the Villa Bucci Classico Superiore 2022 (~ $29)

The Bucci delivered notes of apple, pear and green herbs, with a characteristic bitter-almond skin taste on the finish. Crisp and refreshing, this unoaked white exhibited the ideal balance of fruit, acidity and alcohol:  perfect with the Cacciatore; and the ideal contrasting style for the wine pairing. More Harrison Ford than Jim Carrey. The Bucci is also the wine we recommended in our post on the Italian seafood dish Brodetto di Pesce.

While the Bucci was excellent with the dish, some may prefer a wine pairing that complements or completes the Cacciatore, rather than contrasts with it. For this, we immediately thought of the Fiano from Romano Clelia called Colli di Lapio 2021 (~ $30).

This exquisite Italian white is from Avellino in the Campania region (near Naples). Aromas of nectarine, peach and a little smoke precede a palate of refreshing acidity to stand up to the tomatoes and a beautiful round finish to complement the creaminess of the sauce. The perfect balance to the weight, intensity and flavors of the Cacciatore. This was Meryl Streep vinified.

There were no bad actors in any of these wines. For example, a Gewurztraminer from Alsace (rather than Germany) might have been a better match for the dish. But if you have not yet tried Chicken Cacciatore, we urge you to give this recipe a go. And pair it with either the Bucci Verdicchio or the Colli di Lapio Fiano. Then turn on your favorite movie shot in Italy.