Pairing · pizza, pasta, Italian food
What wine goes with pizza?
A young, fruity red, with enough acidity for the tomato: a Bordeaux Supérieur or a Côtes de Bordeaux two to five years old, between €7 and €14. The natural pairing is Italian, a Chianti or a Montepulciano, and we say so; but a young Bordeaux merlot holds up very well to pizza, at an everyday wine price. The selector builds the meal; the page then says how much to plan for, and what a pizzeria can expect from it by the glass.
Build the meal around the pizza
The pizza is preset as the main course, with a charcuterie board to start, no cheese and a fruit dessert. The balance shown is about 86% red and 14% sparkling. Change each line: the appellation, age and price follow, with no château named.
Three pizzas, three wines
Young Bordeaux Supérieur
Two to five years old, mostly merlot, red fruit and softened tannins. Tomato is acidic: you need a red that is neither too oaky nor too old. Served at 15 °C. From €7 to €14.
Dry white Bordeaux
Without tomato, the pizza changes sides. Cream, melted cheese, seafood: a fresh, dry sauvignon white one to three years old cuts through the fat better than a red. From €7 to €12.
Chilled clairet or rosé
Chilli accentuates the alcohol and the tannins. A Bordeaux clairet or rosé served chilled, low in alcohol, calms things down. It's also the right choice for a summer pizza evening outdoors. From €7 to €12.
Bordeaux with pizza, really?
The honest answer: the most natural pairing is still Italian. Sangiovese and montepulciano have the acidity for tomato and the price of a pizzeria wine. If you want an all-Italian wine list, a specialist importer will do better than us: our selection outside Bordeaux is short and doesn't cover Italy in depth. But pizza doesn't demand an Italian wine. It wants a young, fruity, fresh red without marked oak, and that is the definition of a good Bordeaux Supérieur two to five years old.
What to avoid is the great wine. A Saint-Émilion for laying down or a ten-year-old Pauillac with an oregano pizza tastes hard, and its price serves no purpose. The selector puts pizza at €7 to €14, right next to the charcuterie board, far from the lamb. The Bordeaux Supérieur page explains what the appellation guarantees, and what it doesn't.
How many bottles for a pizza evening
A pizza evening with friends, a birthday, a team meal in a pizzeria booked for the night: people are seated, eat quickly, drink a little less than at a dinner. Allow one bottle for two drinkers over the evening, mostly red.
| Format | Guests | Red | White or rosé | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evening with friends | 10 | 3 | 1 | At your local wine shop: you don't need us. |
| Birthday | 40 | 12 | 6 | Three cases: two of red, one of white or rosé. |
| Team meal, private hire | 80 | 24 | 12 | Six cases, delivered to the restaurant if it accepts corkage. |
Rounded up to the case of 6, 10% margin for a seated meal. Under about twenty bottles, a local wine shop does the job very well. For an outdoor evening, a bag-in-box of young red has its place.
For pizzerias and Italian restaurants
A pizzeria sells its red by the glass and by the carafe, at a price the customer compares with a beer. It needs a red that is consistent from one delivery to the next, that holds up for an evening once opened, and whose purchase price leaves a decent markup by the glass. A young Bordeaux Supérieur ticks those three boxes, and a dry white Bordeaux does the same job for white pizzas and seafood. Nothing stops you keeping your Italian wines alongside: we don't ask for exclusivity.
The by-the-glass markup calculator gives the selling price and the real margin per bottle opened, and the wine list structure page says how many wines to plan for. For trade prices, samples and delivery, see the wine for restaurants page. The price and the château are given on a quote, depending on your volume.
What red wine goes with pizza?
A young, fruity red, lightly oaked, with acidity: Bordeaux Supérieur or Côtes de Bordeaux two to five years old, served at around 15 °C. Allow €7 to €14 a bottle. A Chianti is the classic Italian pairing; a great wine for laying down adds nothing.
White or red with pizza?
Red as soon as there's tomato, dry white when the pizza is white: cream, four cheese, seafood. For an evening with a mix of pizzas, plan two thirds red and one third white or rosé.
What wine goes with pasta in tomato sauce?
The same as for pizza: a young, fruity red, Bordeaux Supérieur two to five years old. For pasta with cream or seafood, a dry white Bordeaux one to three years old.
What wine by the glass for a pizzeria?
A young, consistent, affordable red that holds up for an evening once opened: a Bordeaux Supérieur does that very well, with a dry white for the white pizzas. The trade purchase price is given on a quote; the by-the-glass markup is worked out on its own page.