Wine Pairing with Veal

This dish offers a couple of options for choosing a wine. Veal being a white meat, it still can be paired with wines from both the red and white varieties. And cacciatore usually pack in a lot of flavor--making it my husbands favorite dish!

The strength offered by the tomatoes and breading (if you do so) and pasta needs to be balanced by a lighter wine (I'd stay away from a Cabernet Sauvignon) such as a Pinot Noir in the red grapes, or a Pinot Gris/Grigio or Chardonnay in the whites. You could even be daring and choose a Chianti for a very Italian experience.

Pinot Noir is probably one of the most versatile wines--and is my favorite! Its often the only red wine for people who "don't like red wine." Its a full bodied yet delicate wine, not too acidic, with a very smooth texture.

Pinot Gris (grigio in Italian) is a white wine that varies depending on where it comes from. They can range from light bodied and crisp with hints of pepper to more acidic with citrus undertones to full bodied floral and sweeter.

Chardonnay is a medium to full bodied wine with citrus and fruit aromas, but in its most complex form can be almost toasty and buttery.

Chianti--ah just the name reminds me of Italy! This wine as as many flavors as growers, but the aroma always transports me directly back to a restaurant in Venice! Its a bright red wine, with a dry flavor and a bit of fruitiness.

So, in short, there's no perfect answer to what would go best with veal cacciatore. Try one of these, and experiment with the different pairings and flavors. The beautiful thing about wine is, "Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Othello, II. iii. (315)