We love Italy for various things but most of all for introducing us to the marriage of wine and lasagna. Lasagna is a layered pasta with meat ragout that is so hearty that we would want to pair it with wine to tickle our throats. Here’s an easy guide on what wine to serve with this special pasta.

Lasagna, lasagna, lasagna.

Lasagna is an Italian masterpiece. For us non-Italians, it takes the pasta to a whole other level. Instead of the typical stingy noodles, we’re dazed with this whole piece of flat noodle. If you think that we’re silly for being so obsessed with that fact, just think about it. Reflect on how awesome it is to have layers upon layers of sheeted noodles.

Now, for the more serious stuff. Lasagna is typically made with ragout sauce and béchamel sauce. Ragout is a red meat sauce of tomatoes, mirepoix, and ground meat, typically beef, lamb or venison. Béchamel sauce is made with milk, butter and flour. Lasagna is assembled by layering flat whole noodles, ragout and béchamel sauce. It is then baked until the white sauce browns a little, et voila! You have a delicious, rich and meaty entrée in front of you.

However, lasagna isn’t always made with meat sauce. Some people make different variations of lasagna like vegetable lasagna and even seafood lasagna.

Regardless, lasagna has always been best paired with wine and nothing else. It’s how the Italians designed it to be, and we shall follow!

Here’s a list of wines that go perfectly well with our beloved lasagna.

1. Romagna Sangiovese

The Bolognese sauce was created in the region of Emilia Romagna in Italy. This is the birthplace of what we now know as the most popular meat sauce for spaghetti in the world. Spaghetti Bolognese, Tagliatelle Bolognese, Lasagna Bolognese, and anything Bolognese came from this region, in the town of Bologna.

It just makes sense that the first wine on our list is also from the same region where lasagna was born. Romagna Sangiovese is a juicy and savory full-bodied red wine that cuts through the richness of lasagna.

When aging, the wine is passed through wood that acquires the taste of something similar to nutmeg that is present in the béchamel sauce.

2. Lambrusco di Sorbara

Lambrusco di Sorbara is also from the same region of Emilia Romagna. Lambrusco is the most classic pairing for pasta Bolognese. Its liveliness cleanses the rich and creamy palate of the béchamel sauce.

Lambrusco has the aroma and notes of wild strawberries that go perfectly well with Bolognese sauce.

3. Aglianico

Aglianico wine is made from grapes from the south of Italy. It is known to produce full-bodied red wine that is perfect for our lasagna. It has a musky aroma with berry notes that create firm tannins, which makes it good to age. The high acidity and dried fruit flavors make it work in harmony with the red meat sauce.

4. Sicilia Nero d’Avola

Sicily is the underdog for great-tasting wine in the entire country of Italy. Italy’s wines are often concentrated in the regions of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna. Not a lot of people know that some of the best wines they’ll ever have are produced in Sicily.

Nero d’Avola is fruit and fresh. Its distinct spicy notes make it go perfectly well with a rich meat sauce in the lasagna.

5. Chianti Classico

Chianti is where some of the best kinds of wine come from. There’s something about the grapes in Chianti that make it go perfectly well with any kind of food but most especially meats and cheese.

Chianti Classico is the best kind of wine to have with a creamy, vegetable lasagna laced with mushrooms. Chianti Classic is a subtle and young red kind of wine. Its aroma of raspberry, blackberry and cherries tantalizes you as you have it with every bite of that deliciously creamy and rich vegetable lasagna.

6. Pinot Noir

If we’re going more universal, Pinot Noir is your best bet if you can’t get a hold of those ahead of this number. It’s towards the last on the list but it’s definitely not the least. Pinot Noir is AMAZING. Its pleasant aromas of berries with notes of spices blend bring out the flavors of the meat sauce in the lasagna, making it very enjoyable to eat side by side.

It not only fits perfectly with meat ragout lasagna but with other meats such as duck.

7. Prosecco

Who doesn’t love a good bubbly drink?

If you’re looking for sparkling wine to go with your lasagna, Prosecco is your best bet. Not only is it very Italian but it balances the richness of the béchamel and meat sauce.

Italians love having water with “gas” or carbonated water with their meals. Prosecco is one in two!