Pepperoni Pizza and Chianti: A Magical Pairing

This combination, seriously, is one of the most magical food and wine pairings you will ever find: pepperoni pizza and Chianti!

Why pepperoni pizza and Chianti? It comes down to chemistry. Like peanut butter and jelly. Like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

The pizza is loaded with gooey luscious mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella brings a lot of fat, about 18% by volume. The medium-high acidity in Chianti is a scrubber that refreshes the palate and readies it for more taste sensations and plays well with the acidity in the tomato sauce. The acidity also keeps the tannins of the wine in check: Without it, higher tannins can clash with the tomato sauce and make it taste flat or even metallic.

Pepperoni pizza and Chianti!

Now that you have all those mouth-filling structural flavors playing well together, you can enjoy the secondary interplay of the wine’s fruity (cherry, strawberry, and plum) and savory (leather and herb) flavors with the meaty-spicy pepperoni and herb-saturated tomato sauce. Each bite fills and overwhelms the palate in the best of all possible ways, followed by each sip of wine that sings along in harmony and prepares you for the next bite.

Rinse and repeat.

Three Great Chianti Wines

2018 Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colonia, $135
2019 Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Coltassala, $75

2019 San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio, $25

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Colonia