Opposites Attract ~ My Evening with Fettuccine Bolognese, Sous Vide Steak and Mittelmosel Riesling

Silly rules. Someone makes up something about which wine with which food and over time it becomes Gospel.

Last night I was at a dinner, sipping on a white wine. I thought to myself, “This needs a little more acid, a little more peach and a little more lemon for it to be just right.” The wine was a Sauvignon Blanc from Napa. What I really wanted it to be was a Riesling from the Mosel.


Tonight I was at a steak house. The last few nights I haven’t enjoyed red wine. Headache city. So I decided to finally order that Riesling from the Mosel.

The chef sent out a plate of Fettuccine Bolognese. It was then that I wondered if I was going to have an existential moment or if I was just going to plod on ahead and break some rules.

What happened? The Riesling matched up superbly with the pasta. There was a glass of Rioja on the table and it just fought the food. The Riesling danced with the pasta like Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers.

The second course arrived. The steak was an unusual the cut, a culotte. Only two to a steer. Sous vide and medium rare. Again, I wondered to myself if the Riesling was a mistake. And again, the match was spot-on.

I’m not saying this is the kind of thing for everyone. But for where I was, it worked and it hummed.

My point? Don’t let preconceptions and convention hold you back from trying something out of the ordinary. You never know when you’re going to get a second chance to dance with Ginger.

written by Alfonso Cevola limited rights reserved On the Wine Trail in Italy

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