Italian Wine in Lisbon: What to Drink With Roman Pasta

What is actually on the list

One hundred and twenty-six wines: 70 red, 46 white, 2 rosé and 8 sparkling. They come from 14 Italian regions, organised the way an Italian list usually is — by colour first, then by region, running roughly north to south. Every still wine is Italian; the only exceptions are the four Champagnes, from Ruinart and Louis Roederer.

The list is deepest in Toscana (26 wines), Veneto (21) and Sicilia (15). Bottles run from €26 to €500. No vintages are printed: the list moves as producers release, so the year in the glass is the year currently in the cellar.

The full list, with prices and tasting notes, is at Our Wines.

Co-founder Stefania Carpoca is a trained sommelier, and the list is hers. It has grown over the ten years since the restaurant opened in 2015 — something the Portuguese press noticed. Writing in Mesa Marcada in August 2021, Cristiana Beltrão put it in passing:

“The house has pastas that always make me happy and, on my last visit, I was glad to see the wine list had grown.”

— Mesa Marcada, 20 August 2021, by Cristiana Beltrão · translated from Portuguese

Twenty-six by the glass

Twenty-six wines are poured by the glass, between €7 and €10 — reds, whites and the Prosecco. It is the part of the list that changes most often, and it is the honest way to drink across regions in one meal: a Sicilian white with the antipasti, a Sangiovese with the amatriciana.

If you are ordering for two and want the whole arc of a Roman meal, the sequence is set out in Dinner for Two in Lisbon.

What to drink with what

The kitchen is pasta-first and Roman, which narrows the question usefully. These are the pairings recommended at the table.

Tonnarelli all'Amatriciana

Tomato, guanciale and pecorino need acidity to cut the fat and enough fruit to meet the tomato. Sangiovese does both — the Morellino di Scansano or the Chianti from Guicciardini Strozzi, or the Rosso di Montalcino from Banfi.

Mezze maniche alla Carbonara

No tomato, so acidity matters less than texture. Either a white with enough body to stand up to egg and pecorino — the Frascati Superiore, or Masciarelli's Trebbiano — or a soft, low-tannin red such as Masciarelli's Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Why there is no cream in it is set out in Why Real Carbonara Doesn't Have Cream.

Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe

Pecorino and black pepper, nothing else. A white with real texture holds its own; a heavily tannic red does not. Fiano or Greco di Tufo from Feudi di San Gregorio, or the Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi from Bucci.

Beef, game and the winter menu

The part of the list to open a bottle from rather than order a glass: Barolo Bricco delle Viole from G.D. Vajra, Brunello di Montalcino from Capanna, or the Amarone from Tommasi.

Before you sit down

Franciacorta is made the same way as Champagne, in the bottle. Prosecco is made in tank, which is why it tastes softer and costs less. Both are on the list — Ca' del Bosco's Franciacorta, Santa Margherita's Prosecco — alongside Frescobaldi's Alìe rosé.

The deep shelves

Three appellations where the list goes further than a restaurant of fifty seats usually does:

• Amarone della Valpolicella — six. Saltari, Tommasi, Allegrini, Bertani, and two single-vineyard bottlings from Masi: Vaio Armaron and Campolongo di Torbe. €75 to €180.
• Brunello di Montalcino — four. Capanna, La Poderina, Banfi and Pian delle Vigne.
• Barolo — two, Bricco delle Viole from G.D. Vajra and Ornato from Pio Cesare, plus two Barbaresco.

The most expensive bottle on the list is Sassicaia from Tenuta San Guido, at €500. Tignanello is €300. The same estate behind the Sassicaia wine also supplies the kitchen's olive oil, Olio Sassicaia — the provenance chain is set out in From Teramo to Lisbon.

Where and when

Il Matriciano — Rua de São Bento 107, 1200-816 Lisboa, directly opposite the Assembleia da República. Monday to Saturday: lunch 12:30–15:00, dinner 19:30–23:00. Closed Sunday.

Telephone: +351 213 952 639 · Email: ilmatriciano.info@gmail.com