My brother-in-law Karel originally brought his extensive knowledge and insights about wine to this particular dish. But, I suspect we can reasonably accept its relevance to many similar garlic-first dishes involving tomatoes and fish (and/or seafood), dear oenologists. Read it and weep.
Karel says...
"For this dish, I have not followed the recipe exactly, ingredient-per-ingredient, since it would have clashed with one or two, ahem, quasi-religious principles. Watch me pinch my fingertips together and gesticulate theatrically as I speak …
"Here’s what I did differently.
"I took pine nuts instead of the sunflower seeds for the pesto. As always, I removed the sprouts from the garlic cloves before using them. This bears some importance for the wine, especially since it's consumed as good as raw in the pesto that is only heated at the last moment. All the more if you’re using very pungent garlic (I discreetly abstain from mentioning geographical provenance …).
"I will never grate cheese on pasta with fish; instead, I sprinkled some of the finest olive oil (per me è Arianna Ochipinti’s Panta Rei, basta!) and coarsely crushed black pepper to finish.
"I prepared the side a wee bit friendlier to the wines, substituting lightly pan-roasted pine nuts for the cucumber. But, seriously, that’s just me. The sheer amount of garlic made me think of a few white wines first, as you would with aioli or Burgundian snails in garlic-butter, for example.
"Because of the many pronounced flavours that this dish offers, a simple recommendation for a generic grape variety is not appropriate, however. As a general characteristic, make sure to choose a wine with a clearly marked character itself so as not to get lost between the variety of flavours that the dish offers. That is not the same as saying it should be a fat, blockbuster type of wine. On the contrary, you do not want to loose the precise variety of tasty food either.
"Upon reading the recipe, I had spontaneously thrown a few names into the game and so I’ll revisit those here. Fortunately, that first broadside didn’t miss its target (entirely). But after having cooked the dish myself, it certainly needed qualification! A case in point as to why you should never jump the gun with Ken’s recipes.
"Arianna Occhipinti, “SP68 Bianco (Sicily) was the very first I thought of; a blend of 60% moscato di alessandria and 40% albanello. This is a beautiful “naturally made wine "—as opposed to some hardcore “natural wines” that push the envelope further—and one that I reassert without hesitation. Nevertheless, its pronounced aroma’s may be a tad bemusing to some; if you can’t stand nutmeg, lime blossom or grapefruit … fuggetaboutit. If you want to stay on more familiar terrain, you could try the next...
"Cantine Nicosia, Etna bianco, Contrada Monte Gorna (also Sicily): a blend of 60% carricante and 40% catarratto (oddly, there seem to be two labels around: one bears the Fondo Filare organic range label, and on the website there’s one that doesn’t. Same wine, though). Per se an excellent wine of outstanding value, lighter and fresher than the previous one. Which is exactly why it does not leave the mano a mano with the dried tomato pesto unscarred. Can do, but not an ideal pairing.
"Montenidoli, Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Carato”: glorious 100% Tuscan vernaccia. A full and complex wine with far more aromatic oomph than most Vernaccia di San Gimignano one may encounter and a show trial as to why generic grape recommendation is tricky business. This wine manages to tackle the tomato as well as the garlic. To show its full potential, be aware that it would be more at ease if those flavours were less dense.
"Sorelle Bronca, Valdobbiadene Brut Nature “Particella 232” (Veneto): 100% glera. Since Ken had chosen a fizzy wine himself, here’s another sparkler you may want to try. A vibrant and crisp wine, full of savouriness. It may lack terms of an absolute depth to tame the brute, but it would be silly to expect tremendous depth in prosecco, anyway. That is never meant to be its forte. Rather, it's the sparkle that saves the combination; a dancer—or kick-boxer if that speaks more to your imagination—able to keep an even game going. So, when you are in a buoyant mood, this may be your choice. Actually, “Particella 232” is my own favourite prosecco. Never thought I would use the words "favourite" and "prosecco" in one sentence before I came across the Bronca sisters’ beautiful wine.
"What else? Filipa Pato & William Wouters, Dinamica Bical & Arinto (Bairrada, Portugal): a blend of 80% bical and 20% arinto. Instead of the Etna blanco that I had thought of first, this proved the be the real alternative to 'SP68' for those who find Arianna’s wine too much of a good thing. A fresh wine that brings just enough weight to remain confidently in place without interfering. Tremendous value!
"With certainty there are other white wines that will match beautifully, but I have to admit choosing one requires great selectivity.
"Now, “common sense” has it that fish requires dry white wine (hmmm), tomato sugo red
(hmmm). So, perhaps choose rosé for the combination?
"Here are a few that work very well. Clos Canarelli, Figari rosé (Corsica): a blend of sciaccarellu, niellucciu and grenache. As you might have expected, this is seriously “maquis” in character and may therefore not everyone’s darling. But it stands tall next to the tomatoes, garlic and the mussels’ smokiness.
"Castello di Ama, “Purple Rose” (Tuscany): 100% sangiovese or a blend with merlot, depending on the vintage, which doesn’t make a difference for this purpose. This wine has a smoother character than the preceding one and you’ll have to let it “talk” a little longer to get acquainted with the dish. As with the white wines, it's a choice between venturing into something out of the ordinary and getting the full fireworks or staying with a—shall we call it "civilised-tasting"? — wine for a bit less.
"And now, dear friends, I should be wearing sackcloth and ashes for even daring to recommend the next one because I have committed the heinous deed of infanticide but … I must tell you this was the best pairing in my trials. A real novel treat from the High Priestess of Aglianico del Vulture: Elena Fucci, Titolo Pink Edition” 2020 (Basilicata): 100% young vines aglianico del vulture, and I mention the vintage since 2020 was the very first year it was made (don’t believe wine-searcher: 2019 never existed) to the tune of only 926 bottles. Built on a stark contrast of flavours, it all just fell into line and also created the smoothest, most enjoyable aftertaste imaginable.
"Thinking of Provençal cuisine and the many rosé wines made in that part of France, I suspect there are more good matches to be found and I'm thinking in particular of Bandol, such as the ones from Domaine de la Bégude or Domaine Tempier. But in view of what has been said already, that remains to be tested (didn’t have any rosé Bandol available!)
Finally, if you are adamant about drinking red wine with a tomato sauce dish, be aware tannins and garlic in copious quantity are vicious partners. To avoid misery, try a gamay from Touraine by the likes of the Domaine des Corbillières or Henry Marionnet (should you choose another producer, pay some attention: this is the heartland of natural wine). Gamay can give succulent results with fish such as red mullet, either grilled or pan-fried with a sauce on the basis of that same wine.
"Or perhaps monica di sardegna that you can consider one step up from rosé such as Ferruccio Deiana’s “Karel” (haha, have been lying in wait to mention that one sometime) from Sardinia."
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