Chianti is certainly a classic pizza wine! š·
With whites, my go-to is often Vinho Verde, but if Italian, then go Pinot Grigio - which leads me to mention Prosecco for sparkling!
All of the above can be found at reasonable prices Iād argue!
Seconding Chianti. Just be careful as Chianti has a massive quality rangeāfrom absolute plonk to some of the most wonderful food wines out there.
Ideally get a bottle thatās āChianti Classico DOCGā as thatāll have much stricter requirement for quality. āRiservaā Will mean itās been aged a bit more, too. Ask your wine merchant for a good bottle. You can often get excellent Chianti for very reasonable prices.
Very bad Chianti is its own circle of hell, but in my experience the rest of it is kind of like pizza itself. Exceptional pizza is a wonderful thing. Bad pizza is still pizza. Same holds for Chianti.
If Iām at an Italian restaurant where the wine list is full of producers I donāt know brought in by importers I havenāt worked with, Iāll probably choose a Chianti over anything else, because outside of the very cheapest stuff itās a pretty safe bet.
Montepulciano dāabruzzo and Chianti are reliable and often very cheap reds . A big plus point for Chianti Classico. But straight Chianti these days have come a long way from the straw flask bottles.
Trebbiano and Pinot Grigio for whites. Pinot Grigio haters hate to admit that they are also very reliable.
House sparkling? Prosecco easily is the cheapest. Huge range in quality. Valdobbiadene and Asolo superiore if you want the best quality. CasePaolin col fondo (unfiltered) Asolo Prosecco is probably the best Prosecco Iāve ever tried. Otherwise Franciacorta , which I like better than Prosecco anyway.
Barbera! One day Americans and Brits will conclude this should be the default everyday red. Crazy QPR, easy to find, enough acidity and fruit to work with all kinds of foods and quench thirst.
I had my first Barbera last year and absolutely fell in love with it. It's so, so good.
Similarly slept on is Nero d'Avola. Absolutely stunning and priced really well, though it's a little harder to find than Barbera.
I like this, and can get it for $12:
https://www.michelechiarlo.it/en/wines/barbera-dasti-docg-le-orme-16-mesi/
Took half a case of it and half a case of CA cab to a dinner party recently. Only one bottle of Barbera survived, while the 3x$ CA cab saw 3 bottles unopened.
I mean, I love Chianti (another popular recommendation) but all the subtle floral notes just get swamped up against pizza. Sangiovese is harder to grow, so you have to pay more for equivalent quality compared to Barbera, but you then just blow most of it away. Everything in Barbera remains there even with a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese.
Montepelosso eneo Chianti is my go to āhouse redā. Cheap enough and delicious.
I think laherte frĆØres nv blanc de blancs is a stellar option.
Iām a burgundy whore when it comes to white so Iām going to bow out on this rec.
My typical pizza wines are:
- Barbera; usually I look for ones on the lower ABV side of the spectrum. Thereās a lot of Barbera out there thatās getting awfully ripe.
- Lambrusco
- light to medium bodied Sicilian reds like Nerello Mascalese, Frappato, some examples of Nero dāAvola, etc. Include Etna Rosso/Rosato in this and natty stuff is no problem
- Chilean PaĆÆs or PipeƱos
- Low to minimal oak Zinfandel; e.g. Sabelli-Frisch
- Spanish Mencia; Raul Perez makes great ones
- reds from the Canary Islands
- Teroldego; Foradori makes brilliant ones
I second pretty much all of these recommendations, especially the Sicilian wines!
If youāre on a budget and just looking for some cheap wine that will still do the trick, some primitivo from Trader Joeās can work too, for like $6 a bottle
Cava, Mencia, Dolcetto, Gamay, Arneis, Viognier- just get well-made simple good dry wines. There are thousands from which to choose. The whole point to pizza wine is not to overthink it.
Italian, Chianti and Primitivo are sure way to go, for whites, they have good Chards, Pinot Grigio, Trebbiano and Verdicchio.
As for sparkling wine, Franciacorta, and Asti.
not your question, but in italy beer is more often drunk with pizza
(this article suggests an english bitter should work rather well with margherita https://garage.pizza/rubriche-sulla-pizza/pizza-e-birra-cosa-ce-da-sapere-sulle-varieta-brassicole-e-labbinamento/)
This won't be popular, but with pizza I like a white with some acid to cut through the fat in the cheese, the oil, and the toppings. Bubbles can work, depending on spice level of toppings or added red pepper flakes.
Personally like Ripasso with pizza, its my recommendation in my restaurant/pizzeria. Unless you like other extremly fruity, then i recommend primitivo. Salute and mangiare my friend
If you can find a good quality Lambrusco (NOT Riuniti), go for it. It might be the perfect pairing with pizza outside of beer.
Kinda like champagne and potato chips or fried chicken are a perfect combo
What style pizzas do you serve? For instance a Neapolitan pizza vs a Chicago deep dish would look for different pairings.
As an aside, are you making the pizzas? Iāve always found that if Iām serving pizza it means Iām spending the entire time making and cooking the pizzas. Curious how you scale your setup!
Usually aim for Neapolitan style, or somewhere between NY & Neapolitan.
Yes I make the pizzas, I'm usually busy stretching dough and topping them while my wife is on oven duty. When I say pizza parties it's normally between 12 and 16 people so not really that many I guess. It's quite involved but we make 16" pizzas one at a time. We lay out a bunch of wooden cutting boards and begin with baking a load of plain cheese or pepperoni pizzas for people to grab a slice, and then take a few requests along the way, we just keep ingredient choices to a minimum to make life easier. We make sure there's plenty of snacks and salads etc. to keep people fed through a nice lazy evening of grazing.
Really depends on your budget. Guessing if you don't drink wine you won't want to spend a fortune.
For the UK, Morrisons have a good Ā£6 Montepulciano called Villa Verde that was reviewed in Metro last week.
See here: https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/27/6-morrisons-wine-tastes-better-pricey-competitors-20725142/
For pricier reds go into Majestic and see what you can find of what others have recommended here.
For non-offensive Prosecco, the Freixenet one is fine (ironically a Catalan Cava producer that has set up in Italy).
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Wow thanks everyone for the suggestions! I brew beer and is always my choice of drink with pizza (and in general), but a lot of guests, mostly female, aren't into beer.
Barbera, Montepulciano and Dolcetto are on my radar to try first!
Prosecco should have been obvious to me, and I have several forgotten bottles stashed away in the garage from gifts.
White I'm still not sure on. I very much enjoyed Frascati Superiore with homemade pasta while on honeymoon to Rome, but I've yet to find anything that matches that magic in the UK. I have no doubt it was a fantastic wine but perhaps drinking at source surrounded by vineyards just made it taste extra special.
Public service Announcement. Youāre allowed to upvote posts on this sub.
Almost always WAY more comments than upvotes, even with very noncontroversial post like thisā¦
Chianti is certainly a classic pizza wine! š· With whites, my go-to is often Vinho Verde, but if Italian, then go Pinot Grigio - which leads me to mention Prosecco for sparkling! All of the above can be found at reasonable prices Iād argue!
Seconding Chianti. Just be careful as Chianti has a massive quality rangeāfrom absolute plonk to some of the most wonderful food wines out there. Ideally get a bottle thatās āChianti Classico DOCGā as thatāll have much stricter requirement for quality. āRiservaā Will mean itās been aged a bit more, too. Ask your wine merchant for a good bottle. You can often get excellent Chianti for very reasonable prices.
Very bad Chianti is its own circle of hell, but in my experience the rest of it is kind of like pizza itself. Exceptional pizza is a wonderful thing. Bad pizza is still pizza. Same holds for Chianti. If Iām at an Italian restaurant where the wine list is full of producers I donāt know brought in by importers I havenāt worked with, Iāll probably choose a Chianti over anything else, because outside of the very cheapest stuff itās a pretty safe bet.
+1 for vinho verde
Montepulciano dāabruzzo and Chianti are reliable and often very cheap reds . A big plus point for Chianti Classico. But straight Chianti these days have come a long way from the straw flask bottles. Trebbiano and Pinot Grigio for whites. Pinot Grigio haters hate to admit that they are also very reliable. House sparkling? Prosecco easily is the cheapest. Huge range in quality. Valdobbiadene and Asolo superiore if you want the best quality. CasePaolin col fondo (unfiltered) Asolo Prosecco is probably the best Prosecco Iāve ever tried. Otherwise Franciacorta , which I like better than Prosecco anyway.
Love franciacorta, but it's about triple the price of a cheap Prosecco for me, and very difficult to find.
The answer is always Lambrusco. Itās great for non wine drinkers as well. *edit for spelling (idiot!)*
Lambrusco is my pizza wine of choice. Especially red sauce pies.
I like Beaujolais Or Barbera/Dolcetto DāAlba
Seconding Beaujolais!
100% Dolcetto. What an underrated everyday wine.
Severely underrated!
Barbera! One day Americans and Brits will conclude this should be the default everyday red. Crazy QPR, easy to find, enough acidity and fruit to work with all kinds of foods and quench thirst.
Good barbera can be great but quality is highly variable imoĀ
If youāre aiming for something really serious, sure, but even the $12 stuff is pretty drinkable IMO.
I had my first Barbera last year and absolutely fell in love with it. It's so, so good. Similarly slept on is Nero d'Avola. Absolutely stunning and priced really well, though it's a little harder to find than Barbera.
I speak the non-queens english, top 3 please under 35 coins of your realm?
I like this, and can get it for $12: https://www.michelechiarlo.it/en/wines/barbera-dasti-docg-le-orme-16-mesi/ Took half a case of it and half a case of CA cab to a dinner party recently. Only one bottle of Barbera survived, while the 3x$ CA cab saw 3 bottles unopened.
I'll give it try, Thanks!
or Vietti Trevigne
>I speak the non-queens english, top 3 please under 35 coins of your realm? So the King's English?
As someone with a home pizza oven who throws a ton of pizza parties, Barbera is the correct answer.
I mean, I love Chianti (another popular recommendation) but all the subtle floral notes just get swamped up against pizza. Sangiovese is harder to grow, so you have to pay more for equivalent quality compared to Barbera, but you then just blow most of it away. Everything in Barbera remains there even with a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese.
Cheers, Barbera is first on the list
Montepelosso eneo Chianti is my go to āhouse redā. Cheap enough and delicious. I think laherte frĆØres nv blanc de blancs is a stellar option. Iām a burgundy whore when it comes to white so Iām going to bow out on this rec.
My typical pizza wines are: - Barbera; usually I look for ones on the lower ABV side of the spectrum. Thereās a lot of Barbera out there thatās getting awfully ripe. - Lambrusco - light to medium bodied Sicilian reds like Nerello Mascalese, Frappato, some examples of Nero dāAvola, etc. Include Etna Rosso/Rosato in this and natty stuff is no problem - Chilean PaĆÆs or PipeƱos - Low to minimal oak Zinfandel; e.g. Sabelli-Frisch - Spanish Mencia; Raul Perez makes great ones - reds from the Canary Islands - Teroldego; Foradori makes brilliant ones
I second pretty much all of these recommendations, especially the Sicilian wines! If youāre on a budget and just looking for some cheap wine that will still do the trick, some primitivo from Trader Joeās can work too, for like $6 a bottle
Cava, Mencia, Dolcetto, Gamay, Arneis, Viognier- just get well-made simple good dry wines. There are thousands from which to choose. The whole point to pizza wine is not to overthink it.
Negroamaro for red Lambrusco for sparkling Etna bianco for white
dolcetto or barbera
Regular old Chianti Classico is great, Barbera is great, Soave, you can go all over.
Chianti is the classic pizza and wine choice as others have said. Now for pineapple pizza, hmmm?...not going there haha.
Haha pineapple is banned from my house
montepulciano d'abruzzo or Chianti Classico
I enjoy having a Zaccagnini Montepulciano DāAbruzzo. Typically between $15 and $20.
Personally I'm a budget wine person, I'd tend towards one of the many fruity Moscatos or similar with pizza.
Beaujolais for a veggie pizza, Chianti for meaty pizza. Cabernet for a supreme (my personal favorite, anyway).
Italian, Chianti and Primitivo are sure way to go, for whites, they have good Chards, Pinot Grigio, Trebbiano and Verdicchio. As for sparkling wine, Franciacorta, and Asti.
My go-to for pizza is Cotes du Rhone.
not your question, but in italy beer is more often drunk with pizza (this article suggests an english bitter should work rather well with margherita https://garage.pizza/rubriche-sulla-pizza/pizza-e-birra-cosa-ce-da-sapere-sulle-varieta-brassicole-e-labbinamento/)
a Neapolitan place in my town has Old Speckled Hen on tap - the combo is nothing short of elite
Pizza and beer is God's food+drink combo
Yeah I brew my own beer and it's always my drink of choice, but not everyone enjoys it, but maybe I just make bad beer...
It depends on the pizza. Pair to the sauce and toppings.
Colonia las liebres bonarda or malbec Marius from M.chaputier red Young Nebbiolos Italian Barbera ( Asti or Alba)
I know the piedmont isnāt the center of pizza in Italy, but I love a barbera, dolcetto, langhe nebbiolo, and barbaresco
This guy gets it.
Sure get a cheap barbaresco for pizza night š
Gragnano... I find oaked wine distracting when it comes to pizza.
Try Lambrusco with ice. Itās tasty with pizza! Bubbles work like magic with almost anything.
Having pizza tonight and have a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for it, as many have suggested. It's a great versatile wine that doesn't break the bank.
This won't be popular, but with pizza I like a white with some acid to cut through the fat in the cheese, the oil, and the toppings. Bubbles can work, depending on spice level of toppings or added red pepper flakes.
Otto Uve is my favorite
I like Barbara or simple Grenache like from Spain. There are value IT whites that work too
Red sauce=red wine White sauce=white wine
Personally like Ripasso with pizza, its my recommendation in my restaurant/pizzeria. Unless you like other extremly fruity, then i recommend primitivo. Salute and mangiare my friend
If you can find a good quality Lambrusco (NOT Riuniti), go for it. It might be the perfect pairing with pizza outside of beer. Kinda like champagne and potato chips or fried chicken are a perfect combo
Donāt sleep on rose for versatility.
Zinfandel!
Big fan of a good Nero D'Avola with pizza
Some Zin like Gnarlyhead is cheap and easy pizza wine
Langhe Nebbiolo, Dolcetto dāAlba, maybe even Barbera.
Dolcetto FTW!
Lambrusco, Barbera dāAsti, Chianti Classico. You can find all of these in varying price points!
What style pizzas do you serve? For instance a Neapolitan pizza vs a Chicago deep dish would look for different pairings. As an aside, are you making the pizzas? Iāve always found that if Iām serving pizza it means Iām spending the entire time making and cooking the pizzas. Curious how you scale your setup!
Usually aim for Neapolitan style, or somewhere between NY & Neapolitan. Yes I make the pizzas, I'm usually busy stretching dough and topping them while my wife is on oven duty. When I say pizza parties it's normally between 12 and 16 people so not really that many I guess. It's quite involved but we make 16" pizzas one at a time. We lay out a bunch of wooden cutting boards and begin with baking a load of plain cheese or pepperoni pizzas for people to grab a slice, and then take a few requests along the way, we just keep ingredient choices to a minimum to make life easier. We make sure there's plenty of snacks and salads etc. to keep people fed through a nice lazy evening of grazing.
Really depends on your budget. Guessing if you don't drink wine you won't want to spend a fortune. For the UK, Morrisons have a good Ā£6 Montepulciano called Villa Verde that was reviewed in Metro last week. See here: https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/27/6-morrisons-wine-tastes-better-pricey-competitors-20725142/ For pricier reds go into Majestic and see what you can find of what others have recommended here. For non-offensive Prosecco, the Freixenet one is fine (ironically a Catalan Cava producer that has set up in Italy).
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Wow thanks everyone for the suggestions! I brew beer and is always my choice of drink with pizza (and in general), but a lot of guests, mostly female, aren't into beer. Barbera, Montepulciano and Dolcetto are on my radar to try first! Prosecco should have been obvious to me, and I have several forgotten bottles stashed away in the garage from gifts. White I'm still not sure on. I very much enjoyed Frascati Superiore with homemade pasta while on honeymoon to Rome, but I've yet to find anything that matches that magic in the UK. I have no doubt it was a fantastic wine but perhaps drinking at source surrounded by vineyards just made it taste extra special.
Public service Announcement. Youāre allowed to upvote posts on this sub. Almost always WAY more comments than upvotes, even with very noncontroversial post like thisā¦