While beer has long been considered the traditional companion to pizza, wine can elevate your pizza experience to new heights when properly paired. The right wine can complement the flavors in your pizza, enhance the overall dining experience, and transform a casual meal into something more sophisticated. In this guide, we'll explore the art of pairing wines with different pizza styles and toppings.
Basic Principles of Wine Pairing
Before diving into specific recommendations, let's cover some fundamental principles that will help you make good pairing decisions:
- Balance intensity: Match the weight and intensity of the wine with that of the food. Bold, flavorful pizzas need wines with enough character to stand up to them.
- Consider the sauce: Often, the sauce on your pizza will be the dominant flavor component and should guide your wine selection.
- Complement or contrast: You can either choose wines that have similar flavor profiles to the pizza (complementary pairing) or wines that provide an interesting contrast.
- Acidity is your friend: Wines with good acidity help cut through the richness of cheese and work well with tomato-based sauces.
- Mind the tannins: Highly tannic red wines can clash with spicy toppings and sometimes with tomato sauce. They work better with meat toppings.
Classic Margherita Pizza
Let's start with the quintessential pizza – the Margherita. With its simple combination of tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil, this pizza showcases the beauty of quality ingredients.
Recommended Pairings:
- Sangiovese: The classic Italian choice, particularly Chianti Classico. Its bright acidity complements the tomato sauce, while its savory notes work well with the cheese and basil.
- Dry Rosé: A Provence-style rosé offers refreshing acidity and subtle red fruit flavors that won't overwhelm the delicate flavors of a Margherita.
- Pinot Grigio: If you prefer white wine, a crisp Italian Pinot Grigio has the acidity to match the tomatoes and enough body to stand up to the cheese.
For our house Margherita at Pizzaiolo, we particularly recommend the Chianti Classico Riserva from our wine list, which brings out the sweetness of our San Marzano tomatoes while complementing the creamy fresh mozzarella.
Pepperoni and Meat Lovers Pizzas
When your pizza features robust, savory meats like pepperoni, sausage, or bacon, you need wines with enough structure and flavor to match these bold toppings.
Recommended Pairings:
- Montepulciano d'Abruzzo: This medium to full-bodied Italian red has moderate tannins, good acidity, and dark fruit flavors that complement the spicy, fatty qualities of pepperoni and sausage.
- Barbera: An Italian classic with high acidity, moderate tannins, and rich cherry flavors that stand up well to meat toppings while cutting through the fat.
- Syrah/Shiraz: For meat-heavy pizzas, the pepper and spice notes in Syrah make it an excellent companion, especially for pizzas with more complex, spiced meats.
- Zinfandel: For American-style pepperoni pizza, a jammy California Zinfandel offers bold fruit flavors and enough body to stand up to the spicy, smoky notes.
White Pizzas (No Tomato Sauce)
White pizzas, with their base of olive oil, garlic, and cheese rather than tomato sauce, open up different pairing possibilities. These pizzas are often topped with ingredients like ricotta, mozzarella, garlic, herbs, and sometimes seafood or vegetables.
Recommended Pairings:
- Vermentino: This crisp Italian white has herbal notes that complement the herbs often found on white pizzas, along with enough body to match the richness of the cheese.
- Gavi: Made from the Cortese grape in Piedmont, Gavi offers bright citrus flavors and minerality that pairs beautifully with seafood white pizzas.
- Soave: This Venetian white wine made primarily from Garganega grapes has almond notes and a round mouthfeel that works well with creamy white pizzas.
- Chardonnay: For richer white pizzas with multiple cheeses, a lightly oaked Chardonnay can provide complementary buttery notes while still having enough acidity to balance the richness.
Vegetable Pizzas
Vegetable toppings create unique flavor profiles depending on whether the vegetables are fresh, roasted, or grilled. These nuances influence the ideal wine pairing.
Recommended Pairings:
- Grüner Veltliner: This Austrian white has herbaceous notes and pepper undertones that work wonderfully with green vegetables like bell peppers, artichokes, and zucchini.
- Sauvignon Blanc: Its herbaceous character and bright acidity make it a natural partner for pizzas featuring fresh vegetables or pesto.
- Verdicchio: For pizzas featuring roasted vegetables, this Italian white offers a good balance of fruit and savory notes with a slightly bitter almond finish that complements caramelized vegetables.
- Beaujolais: For vegetable pizzas that still have tomato sauce, the light, fruity character of Beaujolais (made from Gamay grapes) offers enough red wine character without overwhelming the vegetables.
Quattro Formaggi (Four Cheese)
With its rich blend of cheeses, a quattro formaggi pizza needs a wine that can stand up to its intense flavors while providing some contrast to cut through the richness.
Recommended Pairings:
- Champagne or Prosecco: The effervescence and acidity of sparkling wines provide a perfect counterpoint to the richness of multiple cheeses.
- Riesling: A dry or off-dry Riesling offers fruit flavors and palate-cleansing acidity that refreshes the palate between bites of rich cheese.
- Amarone: For those who prefer red wine, the concentrated dried fruit flavors and full body of Amarone can match the intensity of a four-cheese pizza.
- Gewürztraminer: The aromatic profile and slight sweetness can provide an interesting contrast to salty, sharp cheeses like gorgonzola that are often included in quattro formaggi.
Spicy Pizzas (Diavola, etc.)
Spicy pizzas present a particular challenge for wine pairing, as heat can amplify the perception of alcohol and tannins in wine, potentially creating an unpleasant burning sensation.
Recommended Pairings:
- Off-dry Riesling: The slight sweetness helps tame the heat, while the acidity refreshes the palate.
- Lambrusco: This slightly sparkling red from Italy can be found in varying levels of sweetness. A secco (dry) or amabile (slightly sweet) version works well with spicy pizza, offering refreshing bubbles and enough fruit to balance the heat.
- Rosé Champagne: The combination of bubbles, acidity, and red fruit flavors makes rosé Champagne a sophisticated choice for spicy pizzas.
- Primitivo: If you prefer a still red wine, Primitivo (the Italian cousin of Zinfandel) offers ripe fruit flavors that can stand up to spice without too much tannin.
Dessert Pizzas
Yes, dessert pizzas deserve wine pairings too! Whether topped with Nutella, fruit, mascarpone, or other sweet ingredients, these dessert variations can be enhanced by the right wine.
Recommended Pairings:
- Moscato d'Asti: This sweet, lightly sparkling wine from Piedmont offers peach and apricot notes that pair wonderfully with fruit-topped dessert pizzas.
- Vin Santo: This Italian dessert wine traditionally paired with biscotti works well with Nutella or chocolate dessert pizzas.
- Ruby Port: For pizzas featuring dark berries or chocolate, the rich, fruity character of Ruby Port makes an excellent companion.
- Brachetto d'Acqui: This sweet, sparkling red wine offers strawberry notes that pair beautifully with berry-topped dessert pizzas.
Regional Italian Pairings
In Italy, the concept of pairing local wine with local food is deeply ingrained in the culture. Following this tradition can lead to some excellent combinations:
- Neapolitan Pizza + Campanian Wines: Traditional Neapolitan pizza pairs wonderfully with wines from the same region, such as Aglianico or Fiano di Avellino.
- Roman Pizza + Lazio Wines: The thin, crispy Roman-style pizza works well with local wines like Frascati or Cesanese.
- Sicilian Pizza + Sicilian Wines: The hearty, thick-crusted Sicilian pizza pairs nicely with robust Sicilian reds like Nero d'Avola or refreshing whites like Grillo.
Conclusion
Wine pairing is ultimately a matter of personal taste, and the "perfect" pairing is the one that you enjoy most. Don't be afraid to experiment and trust your palate. At Pizzaiolo, we've carefully curated our wine list to complement our pizza offerings, and our staff is always happy to provide recommendations based on your pizza selection and preferences.
The next time you order a pizza from us, consider trying it with one of our suggested wine pairings to elevate your dining experience. You might discover combinations that become new favorites and transform a simple pizza night into a memorable culinary adventure.
Remember, in the words of the ancient Roman poet Horace, "No poem was ever written by a drinker of water." We think the same applies to pizza – a little wine can inspire greatness in both the maker and the enjoyer of fine food!