Top pairings

6 of the best wine pairings for spaghetti carbonara

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on January 29 2025 at 09:04

Spaghetti carbonara - spaghetti with a creamy bacon and egg sauce - is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes but what’s the best wine pairing for it?

Remember, as usual with pasta, it’s the sauce you’re matching not the pasta shape so these suggestions would go equally well with fettucine or tagliatelle treated the same way.

Personally I’d go for a white wine rather than a red or rosé - a crisp dry Italian white at that though I’ve suggested a couple of French wines that I think work well too. Choose from one of these.

* Pinot grigio - there’s so much ropey Pinot Grigio around it’s easy to forget its virtues as a crisp, clean, immensely food-friendly white. Look out for ones from the Alto Adige region. Pinot Bianco (aka Pinot Blanc) would be good too

* Gavi di Gavi - another very popular Italian white for those who like a fuller, slightly smoother white

To gain full access to this article and other premium content you need to purchase a bundle of credits which you can do as a one-off purchase or - and this is better value if you consult the site regularly - on an ongoing subscription basis. (1 credit = 1 article)

To buy credits you need to register an account, which which is easy to do here. Or just sign in to your account if you already have one.

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my weekly newsletter Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.

You may also enjoy …

Which foods pair best with high alcohol red wines?

Pairing wine with Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine

Planeta Alastro 2015

Tags: Teroldego Italian reds drink:red wine Chablis Picpoul de Pinet Bianco di Custoza Soave Gavi Gavi di Gavi Pinot Bianco Pinot Grigio Italian whites drink:white wine carbonara sauce tagliatelle carbonara spaghetti carbonara spaghetti food:pasta, rice & noodles

Comments: 17 (Add)

Pep Daniels on February 21 2022 at 18:28

Reading these comments I wonder if your followers appreciate the point of your articles!

If you want recipes this is obviously not the place for you.

If you want to plug your articles on sites which overtly promote sponsored products I'd hope that such comments would actually be removed.

Having said that, I find most comments here interesting and constructive.

Thank you Fiona, next time I have carbonara I shall remember your recommendations.

Fiona Beckett on May 18 2021 at 09:26

When I say creamy I mean creamy texture not that it should contain cream! (Mine doesn't!)

Michael on May 17 2021 at 23:14

Drink what you like I say. But,NEVER, EVER, EVER PUT CREAM in Carbonara!!!!!

Marco on August 6 2020 at 12:42

no cream in carbonara! never!

Julia on February 22 2020 at 16:33

Wines have the power to make even living life on a desert island into a luxurious vacation. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, “Wine moistens and tempers the spirit and lulls the cares of the mind to rest.” The cultivation of wines is a part of the human culture of centuries and central to the traditions of some parts of the world.

If you ask any wine expert the best way to choose the best wine, they will reveal that the only way is by tasting as many wines as you can yourself. However, tasting every type of wine can be an arduous endeavor with close to 20,000 different wines existing around the world.

Also, there are several health benefits for drinking wines, along with the aesthetic and social appeal of wine drinking. Everyone has a bucket list or catalog of things to do that they wish to complete before reaching a certain age. This article puts together a list of 5 best wines for wine aficionados to try out before turning thirty. So, let us jump right into it without further ado.

Read More: https://www.omilights.com/5-wines-you-must-taste-before-turning-30/

Luis Granes on February 14 2020 at 14:22

Pinot Grigio sound good to me but how about Pinot Gris???
I also agree there is not such thing as Olive Oil and Garlig in the original Carbonara recipe. But then again, everyone has its own way of doing it.

Fiona Beckett on January 17 2020 at 10:34

I know. Controversial. But some people do!

Antonino on September 29 2019 at 19:25

Please... Garlic on the carbonara ?
No no no real Carbonara is not garlic and parsley and with Guanciale (Pig cheek) beacon can be an alternative if you can’t found guanciale.
And you can pairing as well with a sparkling Prosecco
Or cava or America Brut as well Champagne .

Fiona Beckett on September 24 2019 at 08:35

Er, it isn’t a recipe - it’s a series of wine recommendations.

abramowitz on September 24 2019 at 06:57

that is, possibly, the worst recipe for this great dish I have ever read.

Nick Brett on January 23 2019 at 14:46

Pinot Grigio always scares me because there is so much mass produced rubbish out there. Can you recommend a really good one that is easy to get ho,d of?

Fiona Beckett on February 12 2018 at 17:24

Nice one Pam!

And sorry to the others who took the time and trouble to comment on this post. I failed to notice them in my email. Good point about Frascati too!

Pam on February 12 2018 at 17:22

Ah, but you could take "local" to the next level. If you were making your carbonara with English bacon and eggs, let's say, I would pair with an English white (Chardonnay or Madeleine Angevine) ;)

Adrinho on May 2 2017 at 19:57

I agree with Chris, Frascati is the best match for 'simple' carbonara.

Chef Riggy on September 16 2015 at 03:23

I want to use Chef Michael Lomanaco's recipe for Carbonara to commemorate 9/11 -- he was Head Chef of Windows on the World on 9/11/01, and this was one dish on his menu at the time. He used Pancetta in lieu of bacon.
TASTE
SHOW #TS4904

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

1/2 pound piece of Pancetta
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano
1/2 cup freshly grated ParmigianoReggiano
A liberal grinding of pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 pound cooked spaghetti, drained and hot

Cut a 1/2 pound piece of pancetta. Crush and peel the garlic. Put the
garlic in a small saute pan with the extra virgin olive oil and saute until
it turns deep gold. Remove the garlic from the pan and put in the strips of
pancetta. Cook them until they begin to crisp on the edges. Add the wine.
Cook the wine down for 2 minutes.

Break the eggs into a pasta serving bowl. Beat them lightly with a fork.
Then add the Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pepper and parsley. Mix
thoroughly.

Add drained, hot pasta to the bowl and toss rapidly to coat the strands
well. Add the Pancetta and wine. Toss again and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings

Miguel on May 26 2014 at 22:19

Just had this with a good Sangiovese and it was divine.

Chris King on April 23 2013 at 21:42

I try not to comment on food and wine matching; I am a philistine to such things - or is that the People's front of Philistine? Who knows.

However, what often strikes me most about the food and wine recommendations I read, is that there are usually very few recommendations that match food with the local wines. Carbonara is, by historical links, a Roman dish. Yet all of the Italian recommendations are from the North. Are there really no Laziale wines to go with a simple carbonara? No love for Frascati?

I appreciate I am reading this in the UK, but it would still be good to get a match from the same postcode; rather than just the same country. I mean, would you match a Piemonte dish with a laziale wine?

« Later entry Earlier entry »