Here are the rules to find the perfect match (and make a good impression with friends)
There are simple rules to follow to never go wrong with the pairing with the leavened product number one to share with friends: we’re talking about pizza. We must first distinguish between white pizzas and tomato ones, which have a strong acidic and fresh component. Precisely for this reason it is necessary to choose wines that do not have a too strong acidity, without exaggerating with a choice too “tannic“. It is also necessary to evaluate the type of dough: white, wholemeal, a classic Neapolitan pizza or a crunchy one, they all require a different wine structure that must be more important for stronger wheat flavors, lighter on a thin or neutral dough pizza. The white pizza, seasoned with dairy products and fat cheeses, lends itself to a combination with white and sparkling wines because the acidic component of the wine harmonizes and balances the fat of the ingredients. Very interesting, in my opinion is to match the seasoned pizzas with local wines: for example a pizza with speck is perfect with South Tyrolean wines, or the one with anchovies from Cetara recalls a combination with wines from Campania.
Here are five perfect combinations designed for classic pizzas:
1.Pizza Margherita Primitivo di Manduria
Idea Rosa di Primitivo 2019 by Varvaglione 1921, it is a pure Primitivo awarded with the Three Glasses Gambero Rosso. It has a beautiful cherry pink color that anticipates delicate aromas of berries enriched by an intriguing balsamic note. The mouthfeel is fresh, savoury and with a long final notes reminiscent of almonds. Perfect in combination with a pizza margherita as it is a wine not too structured and not too strong acidity.
2.Pizza Marinara Collio Sauvignon
Ideal a fresh and delicate wine, but with a good structure as the Collio Sauvignon of Gradis’ciutta. Made exclusively from Sauvignon grapes, a French grape variety grown in the Sauterne region of Bordeaux, introduced in Gorizia in the mid-1800s, used as an aperitif wine, it goes well with the aromas of garlic and oregano that characterize this pizza “light” in seasonings.
3.Diavola Valpolicella Ripasso
In this case it would be a good match in contrast with a structured and “soft” wine that balances the spicy aroma of sausage. Like Valpolicella Ripasso Monteré Ca’ de’ Rocchi di Tinazzi: a blend of 80% Corvina, 10% Corvinone, 10% Rondinella that ages in French and American oak barrels of 5-20 hl for a period of 12/18 months with balanced and soft tannins, perfect for this pizza.
4.Pizza Capricciosa Gavi Docg
This classic pizza has an insidiousness: the presence of the artichoke, considered by all sommeliers not easily combined with a wine. But Mine Gavi Docg 2018 is a transversal wine, with beautiful freshness, citrus aromas and palate and has a beautiful freshness and flavor. The peculiarity is that it is born from the union of eleven lands composed by the alternation of marly, calcareous and clayey soils, marked by the different microclimates from which comes out a Cortese 100% that encloses in itself the essence of the Gavi wine.
5.Pizza four cheeses South Tyrol’s Schiava
For a pizza so well structured you need an important wine but that also cleans the mouth by the very fat tones of the pizza. An unusual combination, with a Bischofsleiten 2018 of Castel Salleg, which won the award for best Schiava at the Vernatsch Cup 2019. It tastes pleasant and delicate, with a discreet acidity, light tannins and notes of raspberry in the finish sip that balance the taste of four cheeses pizza.
