Gabriele Bertaccini's Top Tip For Pairing Wine With Italian Dishes

When you're looking for wine and food pairing advice, it helps to be present at the annual New York City Wine & Food Festival, which is overflowing with world renowned chefs and industry experts in food and beverages of all kinds. At the event, we were extremely fortunate to chat with Gabriele Bertaccini about pairing wine with Italian dishes. A native of Florence, Italy and a chef who specializes in Tuscan cuisine, Bertaccini runs multiple successful catering companies in Los Angeles in addition to hosting two television shows: "Ciao House" (along with Food Network star and chef Alex Guarnaschelli) and Netflix's "Say I Do." Needless to say, when it comes to Italian food and wine, Bertaccini knows his stuff.

His advice is to consider the region of origin of your Italian dish, and select a wine that comes from the same region. As he explained it, "Wines are regional and dishes are regional ... that idea that these two things go hand in hand, that they were born together, helps you because they are really created to compliment each other."

Bertaccini went on to give an example, explaining that a dish like butternut squash risotto, which comes from northern Italy, is going to taste beautiful with a light, fruity red that was also made in the north of the country; like Nebbiolo or Barbaresco. Risotto is a spectacular way to use your seasonal butternut squash.

You may have heard the old saying, "If it grows together, it goes together." This describes Gabriele Bertaccini's approach to pairing Italian food and wine together perfectly. And the philosophy rarely fails. If you want a white wine to serve with a plate of (deceptively difficult to make) cacio e pepe or spaghetti alla carbonara, consider a Frascati. The two pasta dishes are specialties of Rome while the Frascati grape excels in the Lazio region, which encompasses the Eternal City.

With the Tuscan specialties, such as bistecca alla fiorentina or pici pasta with wild boar ragu, you won't regret drinking the Tuscan superstar: Brunello di Montalcino, which is generally a medium-bodied red wine made solely from Sangiovese grapes.

In the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, the weather gets colder than it does in the south, so the food naturally gets heartier. Tortellini in brodo, rich prosciutto (the crepe paper of meats), and nutty Parmigiano Reggiano are all mouth-coating, belly-filling treats that will taste delicious with Lambrusco, a unique sparkling red wine from the same region that delights with a kiss of sweetness. Many may not know that Italy's largest island, Sicily, produces some spectacular wines due to its rich soils and varied temperatures. Try drinking wines such as Frappato or any wine made with Nero d'Avola grapes with Sicilian specialty dishes like caponata and arancini.