By Bob Souza
Souza Family Vineyards
Great wines for pizza night
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It used to be when ordering your favorite pizza you double checked the fridge to make sure that you also had some beer, and plenty of it, to accompany the Italian pie. However, times have changed and wine can definitely be your pizza’s best newfound friend.
Let’s begin with the “typical” American pizza: tomato sauce, lots of mozzarella cheese, topped with plenty of pepperoni and a traditional thin crust. Wines that would work well with this order need lower acid levels, since the tomato sauce will contribute plenty of acid on its own, and should carry through very forward to conquer the sugar/acid combination of the tomato.
Key wines to consider here would be a medium–bodied Shiraz, a nice Italian Chianti, a medium bodied Cabernet, or, my personal favorite, Zinfandel.
Let’s talk about wine pairing for meat lover’s pizza: one that is chock-full of hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, sliced meatballs and sometimes bacon or ham. The best bet here is the heartier red wines like Shiraz, Cabernet, Zinfandel or Merlot They will handle the meat megadose very well.
How about wine with Hawaiian pizza? (Is Hawaiian pizza a contradiction in terms or what? By the way, it’s my daughter’s favorite kind of pizza. Where did I go wrong?) Think ham and pineapple, covered in mozzarella cheese, and now you are looking towards an off-dry Riesling, hands-down.
Another very popular pizza is veggie-style? With plenty of bell peppers, olives, onions and mushrooms, you can’t go wrong with a cool crisp Sauvignon Blanc. It has plenty of bright acidity to take care of the variety of veggies. A dry rose wine would also perform well with all of the competing components of flavor.
If you opt for the enigmatic white pizza from time to time, totally devoid of the tomato sauce, then your wine options expand even more. A bubbly Champagne, Pinot Grigio, or an earthy Sauvignon Blanc, would all hold up well to the lighter style of the white pizza flavor combinations.
Besides pairing wine with pizzaj, it is also worth a look to combine it with your appetizer when having a group over. A tried-and-true Riesling will stand up to the majority of appetizer options. Of course there are some exceptions, some seafood options, and others might not work, but do yourself a favor and give it a try.
Of course, we end with my favorite part of pizza night: Dessert. For your basic chocolate brownie, you might want to give a Port, Merlot or a Pinot Noir a try.
There you have it, wine and pizza. Now that’s Italian!
Super Bowl has come and gone, and we’re still talking pass or run but hey, can’t change that. My lady Patty and I would like to say to one and all, “Thank you for a wonderful year at the tasting room and all your continued support and patronage!” Now for a news flash: In case you see me, Bob, the wine guy, without my hat on it’s because, it is with great pride, I am tipping it to our friends and fellow wine growers at Triassic Legacy Vineyards for their wonderful competition results in San Francisco. As most of you may have already heard they competed with, I believe, five of their wines in the San Francisco Chronicle Competition this year, and all five were awarded medals, up to and including double gold.
Truly a magnificent achievement, and we couldn’t be happier. Not only for them and their hard work but especially for what this means for Tehachapi. It’s been a long hard journey and a lot of work for our wineries here in Cummings Valley, but we have been blessed with incredible results. Our hope is that we can continue to add value to this wonderful community. Once again, we say congratulations and a job well done.
So, my Uncle Vinnie is drinking at the local pub – something he does quite often – and, after standing at the bar for a bit, he falls down. Two really nice guys help him up and buy him another drink. Then he falls down again, and again. On the last fall his wallet comes out of his pocket.
One of the guys picks it up, just to see his address on his license so they can take him home. Like I said, they were really nice guys. Even though he falls again on the way to the car, they eventually do get him home. Knock on the door, and my Aunt Lillian opens up the door and Uncle Vinnie falls. The two guys pick him up.
Aunt Lillian says, “Thank you so much for bringing him home. Oh, and by the way, where is his wheelchair?” Bada Bing!
Until next time my beloved readers, I remain your BTWG (Bob, the wine guy).
Abbondanza Fortuna!
