Although its sweetness makes it delicious even enjoyed alone, Parma ham is also ideal for unusual combinations, especially if paired with wine.

Pairing is indeed an art – in life, as well as on the table. And let’s be honest, a good table is synonymous with a good life. Take your Parma dish to the next level, find the perfect wines to pair with – and you’ll be sure to have an extrasensory experience.

Parma ham is internationally known as a high-profile Italian product, delicately aromatic and spicy, it’s perfectly balanced between sweetness, sapidity and softness. Its goodness can be appreciated by tasting it with all kinds of assortments. Many are the choices available, but as a thumb rule; aromatic wines such as Malvasia dei Colli are preferable, but also light and fruity Emilian wines.

The Perfect Aperitivo

A charcuterie board with wine is an easy, but also very chic option to serve as aperitif.

Your guests (and yourself) will be delighted by the surprising flavours you will encounter. You can add all kinds of toppings. The most common ones include seasonal fresh fruits or olives. Nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, or almonds. And classic Italian cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano or Tallegio.

An excellent and good-to-go idea can be to make savoury salted croissants filled with Parma ham and soft spreadable cheeses, such as Robiola di Roccaverano DOP or creamy Squacquerone di Romagna DOP, perhaps with a touch of Gorgonzola DOP. Other times, is offered with melon slices or fresh figs.

Both cases require an equally fragrant and elegant wine, like many in the Italian vineyard. Let’s go through the ideal pairings with this fruity option: savoury and fresh, but also soft and with intense aromatic persistence is a Colli Orientali del Friuli Sauvignon, Alto Adige Chardonnay, a classic Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi or a Collio Goriziano Pinot Grigio. These comparisons hold up very well. If you’re more in a festive mood, then you can pair it with the precious bubbles of Franciacorta or an Oltrepò Pavese Classese Brut that contrast with its fatness and sweet tendency. And if the smell and taste are caressed and conquered by the aromas and flavours of some slices of pata negra, you can also opt for a Trento Spumante Rosè.

Parma ham is of course, also served as a topping in many classic Italian dishes. Notably, on pizza…and, that’s amore! What a great aperitif idea to serve slices of pizza to your friends! It’s even more delicious if shared.

The obvious pairing choice with this iconic dish would be a solid wine to stand up to the complexity of the pizza of your choice, but not so intense that it flattens over more delicate flavours – like Sangiovese, with its intense high acidity and fruity flavours. Or a nice Chianti. You can never go wrong with Chianti!

These are just a few examples of how you can pair Parma ham and wine, but of course, don’t be afraid to improvise! Food is like music, each ingredient is a note, and each note produces a melody that in this case, we can call taste. And that’s why ‘Italians do it better’.

Happy tasting!