Which wines to accompany polenta?

Polenta is one of the ancient dishes of the peasant tradition. For many centuries it has constituted one of the most popular foods among the peasant populations of the regions of northern Italy. It is a poor dish, prepared with cereal flour. In the past, rye, spelled, millet, wheat or buckwheat were used, then when corn from the Americas arrived in the 15th century AD, in the cereal of the new world it became the most common basic ingredient.

Preparation is very simple. In a pot of boiling and salted water, the flour is poured and mixed for at least 45 minutes, until a soft and homogeneous mixture is obtained. In peasant civilization polenta was the basic dish, to which it happened to combine cheese, salted sardines or the less noble cuts of the pig. Today polenta has become a substitute for bread when stews, braised meats and in general dishes with sauces are prepared.

When we have to choose a wine to pair with polenta, in reality we will have to think above all about the dish and not polenta. Otherwise it would be a bit like thinking of pairing a wine with bread. So we can safely say that polenta does not change much the rules of pairing wine food that is usually applied. A polenta combined with a meat sauce can be accompanied with a red with a good body and structure such as a Sangiovese di Toscana or a Morellino di Scansano . If, on the other hand, we have a fatter dish, like sausages, we will need more acidity: a good Barbera d'Asti will be fine or alternatively a good young and fresh Nebbiolo d'Alba . If the polenta accompanies a braised meat, a stew of beef or game, we are faced with a structured, rather complex and succulent dish. We will need a wine with good tannins, intense, deep and aromatically persistent. We can combine a Barolo di Serralunga , a Taurasi , an Aglianico del Vùlture , a Raboso del Piave or a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo . With a Goulash, a donkey or horse stew we can bring a bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella to the table . If the polenta accompanies cheese, we will turn to intense and structured whites , perhaps aged in barriques, evaluating the intensity in relation to the length of seasoning of the cheeses. We will always choose white wines when paired with mushrooms cooked in white, preferably fragrant, intense and slightly aromatic. To a classic polenta and cod alla vicentina we can combine a Monti Lessini Classic Method based on durella or a Vespaiolo di Breganze .