Lobster Pasta with Tomato – Red or White Wine?

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Fiano: Romano Clelia Colli di Lapio 2017 – Pairing Rating: 9.5
Pinot Noir:  Williams & Selyem Sonoma Coast 2016 – Pairing Rating 8.5

Four years ago, Trish and I wrote a post titled Meursault with Lobster & Tarragon. The recipe was from the first Silver Palate Cookbook. We’ve recently taken that post down because: a.) that recipe is no longer available online, and b.) we found a better recipe – fresher, lighter and with more lobster flavor. An upgrade.

This elegant rendition of a classic pasta dish, a modified recipe (see below) from Venice’s Restaurant Da Fiore, is distinctive in its use of fresh tomato, an absence of butter, and minimal use of cream. This led our wine pairing away from Chardonnay, where butter and cream are natural partners. Instead, it was the fresh tomato that prompted us to consider Pinot Noir.

Our first choice was a 2016 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir ($55) from select Sonoma Coast vineyards. This beautiful wine delivers finesse, ripe cherry fruit and an acid spine in a way that warmer climes in Sonoma only begin to approach. And while the acidity was an appropriate match for the tomato, the fruit was too dominant for the delicate flavors of the lobster. One forkful followed by one sip left you only recalling the wine. One might liken it to the loudest person in the room at a cocktail party. Not what we were looking for in the pairing . . . so we moved on.

Our search for a pairing with more elegance came with a qualifier: it needed enough acidity to match the tomato but not overpower the lobster. We settled on one of our favorite Italian white wines, Fiano di Avellino.

Fiano di Avellino is an ancient variety cultivated in the Campania region of Italy near Naples, very near the village of Avellino. (Ironically, Trish’s maternal great-grandparents grew up in Avellino). Fiano is chameleon-like, ranging from minerally to lush, smoky to floral, based on soils, growing conditions and winemaker decisions. We chose Romano Clelia’s Colli di Lapio 2017 ($25). The clay-rich soils of the Lapio subregion make for an elegant white wine with a lush mouthfeel. The wine serves up notes of honey, tropical fruits and spice. Perfect for the lobster. We backed off a perfect pairing score of 10.0, however, in view of the wine’s somewhat limited availability. Alternates would be Fiano from Ciro Picariello ($25) or Terredora CampoRe ($27).

We think Fiano di Avellino is one of the best white wines no one has ever heard of (in the US, that is). Perhaps that’s why very few restaurants include a Fiano on their wine lists. Validation can be heartening, however, as when we read recently that Ian D’Agata, a noted Italian wine critic, wrote of Romano Clelia’s Fiano “. . . this is arguably Italy’s single best white wine.”