Worlds Collide When You Pair Cal-Ital Wines With Spaghetti And Red Sauce

What drink works best to wash down your spaghetti in red sauce? Many people's knee-jerk response might just be "red wine," and sommelier Troy Bowen, co-owner of Denver restaurant Noble Riot, is no exception. Bowen does, however, have a preference for what types of red wines he likes to serve with plates of tomato-sauced pasta. As he tells Mashed, Bowen favors what he calls Cal-Ital wines, explaining that this nickname "is short for Californian-Italian, and it means Italian grapes that are grown in California."

Although tomatoes, too, are grown in the Golden State (it's actually a top supplier of this type of produce), Bowen sees pairing California-grown Italian grapes with tomato-sauced pasta as possibly going against a culinary rule that states: "If it grows together, it goes together." As he tells us, "In the world of global agriculture, everything is made to go with anything any time of year" and he feels that wines made from California-grown Italian grape styles — such as Barbera, Nebbiolo, and Nero d'Avola — are a "great combination of Old World charm and New World sunshine" that makes for a beautiful accompaniment to spaghetti marinara.

Red wines have a certain acidity as well as some heartiness, both of which complement a tangy, flavorful dish like pasta with marinara sauce. Besides the aforementioned Cal-Ital wines, other popular California wines that go well with spaghetti include cabernet sauvignon, merlot, or zinfandel. You could also take a tip from "Lady and the Tramp" and go retro-style with a nice wicker-bottle chianti. A fruity sangria, either red or white, can make for a slightly less conventional (but nonetheless refreshing) option.

If you prefer a non-alcoholic pasta pairing, grape juice makes for the most wine-adjacent beverage, although grape and sangria sodas will also work if you enjoy sweeter flavors. Lemon, too, has a tartness that goes well with (or even in) tomato sauce. Lemonade alongside red sauce may please the palate, especially if the drink is homemade so that you can adjust the level of sugar to better suit your taste. A lemon-flavored, Italian-style soda like San Pellegrino limonata or a glass of seltzer with a squeeze of fresh lemon would also go great with a plate of spaghetti.