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Wine With. . . Pizza
by Paul Lukacs and Marguerite Thomas
Bigger is better. At least with pizza. That's the lesson we learned last week when we paired fourteen different red wines with a take-out pie topped with onions, Italian sausage, and mushrooms. The more delicate wines we tried simply fell apart, and even the medium-weight ones lost their appeal with the spicy pizza. We quickly concluded that this extremely popular food item demands big, bold, brash flavors in whatever wine you choose.
We have to admit that we were surprised. After all, pizza shares a lot of characteristics with tomato-influenced pasta dishes that pair very well with lighter reds, particularly Italians like Chiantis or Barberas that have sufficient acidity to complement piquant sauces. But the Chianti Classico we tried, while structurally compatible, lost almost all flavor when sipped with the pizza. Much the same thing happened with a Merlot from Friuli, as well as with a Côtes-du-Rhône, a Rioja, and a cru Beaujolais. In all these cases, the taste of the food proved wholly dominant.
The wines that fared best, while not necessarily the most appealing on their own, proved to be good partners simply because they had sufficient muscle to go toe to toe with the pizza.
And when they did, the wine and food didn't fight. Instead, the different flavors all got along happily.
Of course, many people prefer beer with pizza. The problem with that match, however, is that you can't really taste the drink. The suds work as a lubricant, but they do little else. By contrast, the powerful red wines we're recommending do much more. They actually improve the meal because they refuse to be overwhelmed by the food.
Pizza is one of America's favorite foods, so much so that according to Parade magazine 94% of the country eats it. As a nation, we consume approximately 23 pounds per person per year, or 350 slices per second. This translates into some three billion pies being sold in the United States every year. Just imagine if all that pizza were accompanied by good, forceful red wine!
In choosing wines to try with our pizza, we intentionally selected ones priced affordably. We drew a line at $20 per bottle, keeping in mind that for us as for many people, pizza tends to be casual fare. Not surprisingly, some of the best matches included wines at the high end. Happily, though, a couple were significantly less expensive, proving that you don't need to spend a lot to enjoy a drink that will truly enhance your meal.
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Bodegas Epifanio Rivera, Ribera del Duero (Spain) 'Erial' 2004
(Imported by Elie Wines Imports)
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$20 |
From a small family estate in Spain's famous Ribera del Duero region comes this inky purple wine with intense fruit and oak flavors. Its smokiness and dried herbal characteristics formed an immediate gustatory bond with both the dried oregano in the pizza sauce and the fennel seed in the sausage.
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Grant Burge, Barossa (Australia) Shiraz 'Miamba' 2004
(Imported by Wilson Daniels)
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$19 |
The wallop of fresh fruit in this awesome Aussie seemed to wrap itself around the tomato sauce and the rich unctuousness of the cheese, while the wine's firm tannic structure kept the whole combo from becoming too ooey-gooey. Grant Burge's website suggests pairing it with grilled kangaroo loin, but if that item is hard to come by, we guarantee you'll like this wine with pizza.
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Rosenblum, San Francisco Bay (California) Petite Sirah 'Heritage Clones' 2004
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$20 |
Sampled on its own this wine was full of appealing sweet fruit, but it struck us as being a tad too oaky. When paired with the pie, however, all that wood dissolved into a rich, mellow spiciness that was simply a delicious match with the pizza's forthright flavors.
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Valle do Bonfim, Duoro (Portugal) 'Reserva' 2004
(Imported by Premium Port Wines)
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$12 |
From the same people who produce Dow Port, this blend of Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, and Tinta Barroca is a brooding, dark elixir that burst into an exuberant display of fruit and mellow tannins when it came in contact with the pizza.
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Veramonte, Maipo Valley (Chile) Cabernet Sauvignon 'Reserva' 2004 (Imported by Franciscan Estate Selections)
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$10 |
This wine has that jittery, almost vegetal edge often found in Chilean Cabs, a characteristic that's always a good match with tomato sauce. It also has plenty of muscle and notes of ripe dark cherry, making it an altogether topnotch pizza partner. As an added bonus, the price can't be beat!
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