Counter Intuitive Wine / Food advice (Wine is a no no with Pizza?)

Interesting discussion:

I wouldn’t go so far as to say no wine with pizza, but whites are definitely better than reds.

I’ve never found a red that I truly enjoyed with pizza, and I presumed it was because of the crust, as bread doesn’t go with anything other than bubbles

Lambrusco, high acid Barbera and Aglianico work for me.

I could see the latter two, and yes, Lambrusco works well. I haven’t had Barbera in a while - need some.

+1

Champagne ROCKS with pizza.

I once gently berated the ‘12 angry men’ on the Parker board for drinking multiple great old vintages of Romanee-Conti with pizza but since it turns out the wines were more than questionable I was probably in error. Mea Culpa.

I’ve been told that in Napoli they drink white wine with pizza, eg. Fiano di Avellino. I found that works for me, especially with the most basic Margherita topping and thin crust.
My most common choice is a Grenache dominant CdR or equivalent from Spain.
A friend makes a grilled pizza topped with figs and goat cheese. We like it with a ripe fruit forward PN.

P Hickner

It’s true that Italians usually drink beer with pizza, but it’s not true that wine doesn’t go with pizza. As Robert said, Lambrusco works very well, I have a Piedirosso that an excellent pizzeria in SF sells by the gallon, and there are others.

And the pizza wasn’t delivery, it was Di Giorno.

Along with barbera, I’ve generally enjoyed loire cab francs with pizza as well

Sometimes nothing beats a cold pitcher of beer.

My own preference with pizza is an inexpensive Chianti Classico. Washes it down just fine.

+2

(and champagne rocks with almost anything, especially with food that’s normally difficult)

As pointed out earlier, chianti also works well.

I would add basic, restrained zinfandel to the list - but that’s almost a historical footnote at this point.

M @ r k

Depending on what is on it and what we have on hand we usually drink barbera, Langhe nebb, Valpolicella, Chianti, or Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio rosso when I can find a good one (not many in the market around here). The local place we order from has a “Mediterranean” pizza with caramelized onions, roasted peppers, fresh thyme, goat cheese, and black olives. We drink a Cotes du Rhone with that one.

Champagne is a reliable fall-back position, no?

I’m not a big fan of pizza and wine. ‘Pizza wine’ would be a modest wine that isn’t nice enough for the pairing to matter that much. Usually the processed cheese and sometimes spicy toppings are the problem.

My position I suppose is that the pizza wine pairing generally is not synergistic.

First of all, Ive had many a pizza in Italy and it was served with wine, whites and reds. In the States, I go for good quality beer first, Champagne 2nd and any other wine that I can pair with the style of pizza, usually one that is high in acidity Its not that difficult.

What is pizza ?

I have had a ‘few’ Napa Cabs with pizza and many friends and never heard a complaint. Ever.

IMHO, pizza is beer food - an IPA works great with it. And my local pizza joint, Two Amys, has a good affordable wine list - but better than that, it has Tupper’s Hop Pocket Ale on draft!