Pizza and wine pairing: Surprisingly great matches from Lambrusco to sake

Pizza and wine pairing: Beyond the usual suspects

On a balmy evening at Bar Bucce in Miami, a slice of New York-style pizza bigger than my head is delivered at the bar with a glass of aged sake.

There's no way this works, I think, but I'll try just about anything – even something as odd as this.

‘I am always trying to break the stereotype that sake only goes with sushi,’ says Jacqueline Pirolo, beverage director and co-owner at Bar Bucce.

‘The aged sake, known as “koshu”, tends to have an oxidative, vermouth-like quality. The earthy, savoury, nutty notes play off the umami in the pizza perfectly. I only wish I had thrown a few mushrooms on your slice!’

Pizza has thrived on reinvention. It moves easily from casual street food to fine dining pies topped with caviar, eaten standing up or served on linen-draped tables.

Wine pairings, too, are evolving beyond the predictable glass of Chianti. Today’s diner wants finesse without the fuss, and pizza and wine combinations are just the thing.

'Cold Lambrusco with hot pizza is magic'

For Brent Kroll, owner of Pop Fizz Bar and Maxwell Park wine bar in Washington, DC, the secret to pairing pizza is a one-and-done deal.

‘I bang the drum for Lambrusco all the time,’ he says. ‘People still assume it’s sweet, but dry Lambrusco is one of the best wines for pizza. You’ve got fat, salt and richness, and the wine brings fruit, freshness and bubbles. It’s a classic sweet-and-salty combo.’

Kroll’s Detroit-style sourdough deep-dish pizzas at Pop Fizz – fermented in Ford automotive pans inspired by the style’s industrial origins – take creative liberties, with pies topped with ‘Big Mac’ beef, and Buffalo chicken and ranch dressing.

Sparkling reds work particularly well, he explains, because they can shapeshift with a glossary of flavours, carbonation refreshes the palate and the subtle tannins grip fatty toppings such as pepperoni and other cured meats.

‘Cold Lambrusco with hot pizza is magic,’ he says. ‘Temperature matters as much as flavour.’

A drizzle of hot honey, now nearly ubiquitous on American pies, finds balance in Lambrusco’s lower alcohol and ripe fruit character.

Through fruitiness and perceived sweetness, even dry versions soften heat from ingredients such as the kimchi that tops one of Kroll’s pies.

Kroll has even started an annual Lambrusco week at Maxwell Park, where he shares multiple producers and education with diners.

‘Pizza is communal,’ he says. ‘It’s relaxed. Wine should feel the same way.’

Complex and casual

Across the Atlantic, Michele Pascarella, chef-owner of Napoli on the Road in London’s Soho, sees pizza’s future firmly rooted in craftsmanship, which is increasingly aligned with fine wine.

‘Pizza is, at its core, a simple dish. But creating it perfectly, getting the dough, the cooking, the ingredients just right, is incredibly complex,’ he says.

His award-winning Ricordi d’Infanzia (‘childhood memories’) pizza, for example, is layered with 12-hour slow-cooked Neapolitan ragù and 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano cream.

Pascarella says it calls for Campanian red variety Pallagrello Nero, its dark fruit and liquorice notes mirroring the pie’s richness.

For the Carciofi e Patate option – topped with a delicate combination of parsnip cream, fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella), grilled artichokes and sliced potatoes – Pascarella prefers either a Greco di Tufo white, where the citrus and mineral tension cuts through the creaminess, or a lightly sparkling red such as Gragnano, which offers red fruit and lift.

Fermentation, fermentation

Back in Miami, Pirolo’s sake pairing shows that pizza can be a natural match with many fermented beverages.

At Bar Bucce, pizzas are New York-style (thin crust) with an Italian spirit, from a shrimp pie layered with stracciatella to a crisp marinara finished with anchovy oil.

To go with the shrimp pie, Pirolo pours Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo – a dark Italian rosé with zesty acidity and herbal notes.

The anchovy oil-finished pie gets a brut Franciacorta pairing, ‘hopefully in magnum form to make a party of it with a group of friends’, she says. ‘Bubbles and pizza were my original love before sake and pizza.’

Effervescent drinks, from sparkling wines to makgeolli (Korean lightly sparkling rice wine), beer and spritz cocktails, thrive because they refresh the palate.

Chilled reds echo pizza’s informality while preserving complexity.

Oxidative styles, whether aged sake or brioche-scented, traditional-method wines, amplify umami and browned crust flavours.

Lounging at Bar Bucce, the sake glass empties faster than expected; another hot slice is on the way. The nutty sake works with the yeasty dough, and the deep umami notes make the Pecorino cheesier.

With the sun setting over Miami palms, I chuckle at the revelation of a seemingly impossible pairing.

Three surprisingly great pizza and wine pairings to try

Related articles