The most important thing to understand about something called a pizza wine is that it’s a compliment.
“Pizza wines are fun, light-bodied, medium wines,” says Harris Polakoff of Pogo’s at Lovers Lane and Inwood. “They are almost always inexpensive, and they are almost always Italian wines – and usually Chianti.”
These wines, even though they are red, complement a variety of pizzas, from the most traditional, such as cheese and pepperoni with tomato sauce, to new-fangled California-style with smoked chicken or roasted vegetables.
Consider the following wines when pizza is on the menu:
1999 Badia Coltibuono Cetamura ($9). A true Chianti (which means it’s made of sangiovese grapes from the Chianti region), and a fine value. Much lighter than a cabernet.
2000 Falesco Vitiano ($10). A blend of sangiovese, merlot and cabernet sauvignon grapes, put together by one of Italy’s most respected wine-makers. Fruity and not heavy at all, almost like a California blend.
1998 Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre ($17). The heaviest of these three wines, but still light-bodied with a hint of fruit. A traditional Italian-style Valpolicella.
