more about my sauce

[sambuca]

the sauce is pretty much just vodka, meat sauce, heavy cream, some basil (only a little), and a little tobasco. Thank you

[Thomas]

You shall have to make a decision here. The Tabasco throws me off.

If the Tabasco is light (similar in strength to ground black pepper) then perhaps the heavy cream is the theme. If so, try Chardonnay--dry, medium acidity-- or maybe Pinot Blanc (Bianco for Italian). If the Tabasco is strong, then you might need a wine with lots of fruitiness or maybe a touch of sweetness--Riesling.

Then again, you have this meat sauce to muck it up. What kind of meat? How much liquid in the meat sauce and what kind of liquid?

Seems you have a number of taste sensations going on in this dish.

[Jerry D Mead]

Yes, you talk about the meat sauce as if it's a separate sauce...if so, what's in it?

Hot seasonings like tabasco in any noticeable amount are the enemies of wine...if it's very hot...consider beer.

[Randy Caparoso]

This is not going to well, gentlemen. Shame on you, Curmudgeon -- you're supposed to be recommending wine, not beer! I love red wine with super hot foods -- no "enemy" relationship for me!

Sambuca, I'm assuming that your meat sauce is tomato based with the usual ground beef, with seasonings and chopped basil cooked in by the evaporating vodka, then lightened with cream and touched up with the world famous Tabasco to taste. I'm there!

If I'm right, you'd be better off with a light, zesty Italian red wine -- a Chianti Classico, Valpolicella, or Dolcetto -- rather than foodie's white wine recommendations (since oily beef and zesty tomatoes are better served by stronger red wine flavors, rather than soft white wines).

However, I could be wrong (it's rare, but it happens) and you're talking about a creamy white sauce with no tomatoes and maybe with chicken as your "meat." Then you should go back to foodie's recommendation of a light Italian Pinot Bianco, Chardonnay, or (for something dry and a little stony textured) Pinot Grigio. I'm not sure about his slightly sweet Riesling recommendation, since I would assume that if the dish is white sauce oriented that you would be using just a dash of Tabasco (in which case you really don't need a sweet/fruity white to offset such mild heat).