Photography by Murray Hall; Food Styling by Jessie YuChen
Perusing the beverage menus of most pizzerias in Italy, you might assume that the omnipresent Coca-Cola and industrial lagers are the perfect pizza companions. Sure, you’ll find some vino in the mix, but most places are content to pour Peroni, Moretti, or Nastro Azzurro. I love beer with my pizza as much as the next Rome dweller, but to me, wine is often the better bet by a long shot, with its palate-cleansing effervescence and acidity. Plus, with as many wine varieties as there are villages in Italy, vino makes for infinite pairing possibilities that enhance the pizza-eating experience.
But before grabbing any old bottle, first consider your toppings. Are we working with acidic tomato sauce? Sweetly lactic (or hard, savory) cheeses? Whether you opt for cooked vegetables or cured meats or neither of the above, you’ll want to think about how each component will react with the wine.
The old saying goes, “If it grows together, it goes together,” referring to the natural affinity between local produce and local wine. Considering Campania is the ancestral Italian homeland of pizza as we know it (the Neapolitans were the first to deploy tomato sauce and melted mozzarella), it’s logical that the wines of that region are natural pizza partners. But there are plenty of other Italian vini, as well as beers and sodas, that will elevate your next pizza night.
Here are some pairing suggestions to amp up your next pizza
