Pasta Salad & Wine

Pasta Salad & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Last weekend I entered a Pasta Salad contest. I won in two categories including People’s Choice. At least a dozen people asked me what wine would best accompany my salad. So today we chat pasta salad and the wines that go with it.

Pasta salad recipes seem to fall into one of three styles – the mayonnaise style, the Italian dressing style or the pesto pasta salad. The traditional mayonnaise style of pasta salad is rather limiting when it comes to pairing a wine with it. It pretty much has to be dry crisp white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, or Pinot Grigio. If the salad has too much mayo and not enough other flavors, then it is difficult to find a wine that is anything more than just an accompanying beverage. I once had a pasta salad with chipotle smoked peppers in the mayo and it was spectacular! It went with several Spanish red wines, Italian wines and Washington Merlot! So, on to the Italian style dressing on pasta salad. If it is richly seasoned with fresh garlic and chopped herbs it works with a greater variety of red and white wines. Include sun dried tomatoes and you will be astounded at the numerous red wines complimenting your salad. Which leads to the pesto pasta salad; I had one in which the major flavors were pesto and sun dried tomato, it went well with both red and white wines. A pasta salad with just pesto and black olives, no sun dried tomatoes, seemed to have an affinity for whites rather than reds. Have a pasta salad party and find your favorite recipe and wine combination. And thanks for joining me on today’s Vine to Wine.

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