The Wine CEO Podcast Episode 11 - Pizza & Wine Pairings plus the #1 most imported wine into the U.S.

Gone are the days where Pizza is simply Cheese or Pepperoni. With so many gourmet flavors of pizza out there (BBQ Chicken, Buffalo, Truffle, Ham & Pineapple) it can be difficult to know how to pair wine with all of these different flavors. Well all of these unique pizza flavors can make things a little challenging when it comes to pairing the perfect wine. One of my favorite episodes so far was episode #3 where I talked about pairing food and wine and how to ensure your flavors harmonize. If you haven’t listened to that episode, go back and listen to learn the basics of how to pair food and wine. One of the things I discuss is how you can’t just pair protein with wine. For example, I can’t say that you should always pair white wine with chicken because chicken alfredo will pair with a different wine than barbecue chicken, kung pao chicken, chicken tacos and so forth.

It’s similar with pizza - a wine that might go well with a pepperoni pizza is not going to be the best option for a pesto pizza or an arugula and goat cheese pizza. So how do you know where to begin? Well let’s start with the basics and the easiest to pair with. Good old pizza with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Maybe you have some pepperoni on there, maybe you don’t. So it’s always good to remember that you can pair regional food with regional wine and it’s almost always going to be a perfect pairing. So if you’re eating a pizza with classic Italian toppings like this, then you want to pair your pizza with an Italian wine like a pinot grigio or a chianti.

But when you start going crazy with gourmet toppings, you want to pair your pizza with the flavors of the toppings. Below I listed a few common pizzas and recommended pairings here, but you can also check out my blog post HERE to see an awesome chart I created with these parings and more! You can also save the chart as a photo to your phone or pin to pinterest to keep in mind for the next time you’re doing a pizza and wine party!

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Syrah

Goat Cheese and Arugula Pizza or Veggie Pizza with Sauvignon Blanc

Pesto Pizza with Rose

Buffalo Chicken or Cauliflower Pizza with Chardonnay

Meat Lovers Pizza with Chianti

4 Cheese Pizza with Pinot Grigio

White Cheese and Truffle Pizza with Nebbiolo

When in doubt, stick to Pinot Grigio. Pinot Grigio is a very light white wine that is nice and acidic. That makes it an awesome wine to cleanse the palate and pair with a lot of different flavors. It’s light enough to go with lighter flavors like pesto or goat cheese and veggies, but the acidity will still make it refreshing if you pair it with a tomato sauce based pizza or even one with unique flavors like barbecue or buffalo. Although pinot grigio has a reputation of being a cheap white wine, there are actually some really great pinot grigios out there. You may not know that Pinot Grigio is actually the #1 most imported wine into the United States!

Check out the below Pinot Grigios for some great quality wines at really good price points and if you want to learn more about Pinot Grigio, be sure to listen to the full episode!

Tesoro Della Regina, Italian Pinot Grigio

Banfi, Italian Pinot Grigio

Santa Margarita, Italian Pinot Grigio

Trimbach & Albrecht, French Pinot Gris

Acrobat, U.S. Pinot Grigio

Parducci, U.S. Pinot Grigio

Thanks for listening! As always, you can check out my website for virtual wine tastings, consulting services, blog posts, and so much more at thewineceo.com.