National Pizza Day and the choice of wine

It's National Pizza Day on Thursday this week (9 February) so it's time to think about booking a table, ordering a takeaway, or firing up your pizza oven.  And if you're joining the celebration what will you be drinking?  Is there for example a classic wine pairing for pizza similar to champagne with oysters, port with stilton, and malbec with steak or do you just wash it down with whatever takes your fancy at the time?  If you go to one of the national pizza chains like Pizza Express, Prezzo or Ask the wines on offer are typically those that are in fashion at the moment such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, and Malbec irrespective of whether they match the various pizzas with different toppings that are on the menu.  Clearly there is commercial value in offering wines that customers recognise but it is undoubtedly the case that some wines will match the food better than others. On the basis that there is often a correlation between a region or country's cuisine and their wines I would suggest at least an emphasis on wines from Italy might be a good start in a pizzeria.  On this basis I take my hat off to the Franca Manca chain where their wine offer is exclusively from Italy, with 4 reds and 4 whites by the glass and the bottle.  

The traditional Neapolitan pizza is a thin crust of dough, tomato sauce, and cheese onto which a variety of toppings can be added.  The relatively high acidity of the tomato sauce demands a wine with some acidity and plenty for fruit.  There are many red wines that could fulfil this brief and there's certainly no point in wasting a quality Barolo or Amarone on the humble pizza.  Sticking with Italy but at the lower end of the price range I don't think you can go wrong with either of the following bottles. Firstly, the Araldica Barbera d'Asti Superiore from Waitrose which is currently on offer for £7.49 instead of £9.99.  The Barbera grape is widely planted in Piedmont in northwest Italy and here the long-established Araldica cooperative produces a fresh, fruity and smooth-textured wine.  With flavours of black cherry and damson it's a fine accompaniment to a tomato based pizza.

Araldica Barbera d'Asti Superiore

Equally appropriate and a great alternative would be the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo in the 'Finest' range at Tesco. The quality of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo produced near the Adriatic coast halfway down Italy can vary quite widely so once you spot a good one it's worth sticking with it.  At £7.00 this one is a bargain and has received a number of good reviews recently.  It is a vibrant easygoing red wine bursting with flavour.

Tesco Finest Multipulciano d'Abruzzo

Of course there are many pizzas that elaborate the simple Neapolitan pizza with the addition of meats and richer, spicier toppings.  Here a heavier and more robust red seems appropriate to counterbalance the bolder flavours. There is still no need to break the bank as there are various cheap and cheerful reds from the south of Italy (Puglia and Sicily) that fit the bill.  My suggestion would be look for a wine based on Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero d"Aovla grape varieties from these areas.

Finally, we mustn't overlook the concept of the white pizza; one without the base layer of tomato sauce.  Because of this, acidity is not an issue so perhaps here's your chance to go 'white' on the wine too.  If so, I hesitate to suggest the ubiquitous chardonnay (although this is a grape variety cultivated in Italy too).  Instead, this seems to me to be a prime opportunity to capitalise on Naples' status as the home of the pizza and drink something white from the surrounding region of Campania.  If you are not familiar with them varietals such as Fiano, Falanghina, and Greco are mainstays of white wine production in Campania.  They make pleasing aromatic wines with floral, citrus, and tropical fruit notes.  It just so happens that Waitrose (again) have a decent wine from Campania that is a blend of all three of these grapes.  It's definitely worth giving the Waitrose Triade Bianco a try, especially now when it's another on offer at £6.99 instead of £8.49. 

Waitrose Triade Bianco

POSTSCRIPT 

There is one further wine that I can't help thinking makes a perfect match for a tomato-based thin crust pizza and that is Lambrusco.  This is the much-maligned wine from Emilia-Romagna that has never really recovered in the UK from its dubious reputation as a slightly exotic, lightly-alcoholic, fizzy 'pop' in the 1970s.  But putting aside similar super-sweet concoctions that you can still find in some supermarkets in northern Italy there is a lot to be said for a well-crafted red Lambrusco to accompany a pizza.  M&S used to sell one a few years ago but the best one available these days is Vecchio Moro Lambrusco Grasparossa Rinaldini from the Wine Society at £12.50.  This may be pushing it a bit beyond the price point I've been suggesting earlier but, if you're not familiar with a real deal red Lambrusco, now's the time to give it a go. 

Vecchio Moro Lambrusco Grasparoosa Rinaldini