Bread Or Fava Beans Alla Carbonara

Red · Medium · Dry

Burgundy's most temperamental grape, but the rewards are real — translucent ruby with a perfumed lift of red cherry, forest floor, and clove. Silken tannins and bright acid make it the most versatile red on the table; serve cool, around 58°F.

Loire Cabernet Franc — bigger and more structured than neighboring Chinon, with darker fruit and earthier character. The Cabernet Franc to age.

Red · Medium · Dry

Tuscany's everyday red, made from Sangiovese — cherry, leather, and a brisk acidity that makes tomato-based dishes sing. The Classico designation marks the historic heartland and a step up in quality.

Red · Medium · Dry

Sangiovese from Tuscany's historic heartland — denser fruit, longer finish, and a structure that rewards aging. The pizza wine, elevated.

Loire Cabernet Franc at its most refined — pencil-shavings, raspberry, and a flint-stone finish. The bistro red of choice; equally good chilled in summer.

Red · Medium · Dry

Cabernet's softer sibling — plum, black cherry, and a whisper of chocolate, framed by rounder tannins and earlier drinkability. The wine that built Pomerol and the one to reach for when Cabernet feels like overkill.

Red · Medium · Dry

Italy's most popular under-$15 red — the Montepulciano grape (not the Tuscan town) from Abruzzo, all sour cherry, plum, soft tannins. The pizza-and-pasta wine.

Loire wines from around the town of Saumur — light, fragrant Cabernet Franc reds, structured Chenin Blanc whites, and some of France's best traditional-method sparkling.