This week The Kitchn is awash with wonderful pizza recipes, pizza techniques, and pizza stories, so why not look at wines to drink with pizza? Over the years I've found a number of tried-and-trusted wine styles that have stood the test of time as perfect pizza partners. Traditionally pizza meant a thin, crispy dough base with two key ingredients: tomato sauce and melted cheese. The best wines for pizza take into consideration these ingredients. While fuller-bodied white wines, and even Champagne or sparkling wine, can be delicious with the right pizza, in general you are looking at a red wine. Pizza, regardless of topping, is always fairly earthy and substantial fare that begs red over white. High Acidity + Moderate Tannin Color decided, next thing to take into account is the fat in the melted cheese. To cut this, you need a wine with medium-high to high acidity. Because tomatoes are high in acidity, you need a fairly high-acid wine. Avoid reds that are high in tannin, as the combination of the tomato flavor and lots of tannin can be quite metallic.

I also like the wine to have plenty of juicy fruit flavors, as well as a savory/earthy dimension, to help bring out the flavors not just in the toppings but also from the crispy dough base. Italy: The Motherland of Pizza Wines It is no surprise that the source of some of the best pizza wines is also the home of pizza. Italian red wines are noted for their high acidity. Given the unparalleled number of grape varieties grown in Italy, and the amount of tomato-based dishes they eat, it is easy to find an array of red wines that are moderate on the tannin front. But it would be unfair (and too easy) to only consider Italy when sourcing a good pizza wine, so I have spread my wings and looked further afield. While not exhaustive, in my opinion the following six wines will pair with any pizza: Barbera is the first wine that comes to mind when I think of pizza. From Piedmont in Northern Italy, Alba and Asti are two communes that are demarcated for Barbera. Barbera is noted for its high acidity and low tannin.

Barbera wines are very juicy and packed with cherry-berry flavors. Go for the simpler, fruity unoaked versions. Sicily is a much-overlooked region when it comes to quality wine. It is the source of this lively, fruity red made from a blend of Nero d'Avola and Frappato. Frappato, the lighter of the two grapes, adds brightness, lightness, and perfume as well as a savory gamey note. No need to aim for the weightier Classico style — just straight-up, straightforward Chianti is a natural pizza partner. Made from Sangiovese, simple Chianti is less concentrated and less tannic than its classico big brother. Typically unoaked or very lightly oaked, the wines tend to be jucier and lighter-bodied — perfect with your pizza While I could easily stay in Italy, with so many pizza-friendly wines, I am veering west to France and specifically to the Gamay grape. Beaujolais, the Macon, and Anjou (Loire) are great sources of fresh, light-to-medium-bodied, fruity Gamay wines. Gamay wines also have a delicious earthiness which is another plus when eating pizza.

Don't let the name turn you off. Over the past five or so years, Austria has been making great strides with its red wines. Blaufranckish, an indigenous black variety, is all about the fruit — bramble fruit, black cherries, and plums — with sufficient but supple tannins. best wine textbooksIt is a recent addition to my list of pizza wines.best french wines to age Across the Atlantic and the United States to California, you'll find our much-loved Zinfandel. top wine shops parisHowever, a caveat: Avoid the blockbuster, full-bodied, heavily extracted (and expensive) styles when having pizza. best wine with snacksInstead look for the fruitier, unoaked (or lightly oaked), medium-bodied wines. best super sweet red wine

Simple Zinfandel at its best is juicy, only moderately tannic, and packed with wild and juicy blue, black, and red fruits.What are your favorite pizza-wine combinations? Mary Gorman-McAdams, MW (Master of Wine), is a New York-based wine educator, freelance writer, and consultant.best cheap wine in paris Related: An Italian Wine Dinner Menu: Recipes & Wine Pairings It’s All About the Sauce: Pairing Wine with Pizza Wine with pizza is like beer with fish and chips… it’s just meant to be. Whether you’re eating midweek delivery or dining at a fancy pizzeria, there are a multitude of wines that will match your meal. Here are 8 classic pizzas paired with wine. WHY: Cheese Pizza Wine Pairing A classic slice of cheese pizza with red sauce is the quintessential New York slice. The red sauce becomes the focal point of the wine pairing because of its acidity and intense flavor. A GSM will work great —by the way, GSM is the acronym for the blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is another great choice, it’s a grape that is grown in Abruzzo, a region east of Rome. Sangiovese or Cabernet Franc WHY: Pepperoni Pizza Wine Pairing Pepperoni is a very strong flavor and in America it is made with cured beef and pork mashed together with a variety of spices including cayenne pepper, anise, garlic powder, paprika and sugar. Because of the fat content of pepperoni, it imbues its flavor throughout the cheese on every slice. You’ll need a strong wine with intense flavors to counterbalance ‘the pepperoni effect’. Sangiovese is a classic choice as the most popular red grape of Italy, and Cabernet Franc is a surprisingly good alternative. Garnacha or Dry Rosé WHY: Margherita Pizza Wine Pairing With its aromatic notes of fresh basil and the use of other lightly flavored fresh ingredients (tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella), a rosé is the perfect Margherita pizza wine pairing. Of course, if you’re a red wine-only type of drinker, Garnacha is going to work well too.

When deciding whether or not you’re going to have a red, white or rosé, sometimes it’s more about your environment. Still, with something lightly flavored like a Margherita Pizza, stick to lighter reds as a starting point. WHY: Sausage Pizza Wine Pairing Are you a sausage pizza lover? If you are, chances are you might also like bolder red wines too, so it’s lucky that they go so well together. The reason full-bodied wines like Syrah and Pinotage work well with rich meats like sausage has to do with the spices used (including fennel, anise, thyme and oregano) and the flavor intensities. Both Syrah and Pinotage will greet you with their intense dark fruit flavors of blackberry, olive, plum and blueberry which should work well with a fennel-driven sausage. Riesling, Zinfandel or Lambrusco WHY: Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza Wine Pairing A slightly sweet Riesling will match surprisingly well with Canadian bacon. Don’t worry, the Germans have been pairing their Rieslings with all kinds of meats so it’s no surprise that this is a great pairing.

The acidity in the Riesling acts as a palate cleanser and the sweetness of the Riesling will elevate your ham pineapple experience to a new level. If you can’t find a Riesling that will make you happy, pick a fruitier or sweeter red such as Zinfandel, Primitivo or Lambrusco. Pinot Noir or Chardonnay WHY: White Pizza Wine Pairing White pizza divorces itself from the traditional red sauce and opens you up to two terrific wines that love the ‘white stuff’. Cream-based dishes elevate the natural ‘creamy’ notes to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (which, by the way, is brought about through a secondary fermentation called Malolactic). Of course many wines go well with cream, but both Pinot and Chardonnay show some particularly good affinities to the green herbs (like tarragon) that are often scattered on top of your pie. 7. Barbecue Chicken Pizza Malbec or Touriga Nacional WHY: Barbecue Chicken Pizza Wine Pairing Barbecue is many things but on a pizza it has this sweeter smoky kick which Argentine Malbec and Touriga Nacional (a Portuguese wine) will pair really well.