Wine/Beer with Pizza

Headed to Coalfire this Wednesday and since it's BYOB, would like suggestions on a good wine or beer to accompany our pizza!

TIA.

Carlywood, don't overthink this. It's best to go with something you like and are excited to try or revisit.

If you'd like to try to match, just remember that pizza is relatively heavy and the cheese is fatty. So you want a wine that can stand up to it. Think big reds. Zinfandels are a favorite, as are malbecs. If you prefer a white, you can make that work also, if you stick to something on the full bodied side.

Same thing with beer: personal likes matter more than anything. I personally don't like heavier beers, such as porters, with pizza.

I think if you'd like more focused advice, it might be best to let us know some of your favorite wines, styles, regions, etc. and we can say which seem like better matches.

Darren, I appreciate your insight!

I enjoy wine, but don't really know much about it. I figured a red would go best with pizza. I like cabernet, pinot noir and shiraz.

As for beer, I tend to lean towards the lighter stuff, blondes or wheat ales.

Carlywood wrote:Darren, I appreciate your insight!

I enjoy wine, but don't really know much about it. I figured a red would go best with pizza. I like cabernet, pinot noir and shiraz.

As for beer, I tend to lean towards the lighter stuff, blondes or wheat ales.

I think a cab or shiraz would be better bets with pizza than the pinot noir. Pinot noirs tend to be lighter bodied and could easily be lost (i.e. you won't taste much) with pizza. Both beer styles you mentioned would work great.

One suggestion is to go to a wine shop, tell them how much you want to spend, and ask for suggestions. Although you may get excellent suggestions here, there are two advantages to asking for advice in a store: first, it probably isn't worth your time to visit 5 stores looking for one particular wine. Second, and more importantly, a knowledgeable wine shop employee is a great asset. They know their stock. They'll also be able to tell you more about the wine and answer questions. It's a good idea to try them out and see if their tastes match yours. Now, a bad wine shop is an entirely different story.

I'm not sure where you are coming from and what the closest, good wine shops are. Binnys and Sam's have excellent selections and knowledgeable sales people, but because of their size it is sometimes hard to find an associate.

Here are two other places relatively near Coalfire.

Juicy Wine Company (This is a wine bar, but I believe they also have a retail section)
694 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 492-6620
juicywine.com

Perman Wine Selections
(formerly Bennett Special Wines‎)
802 W. Washington Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60607
Phone 312-666-4417

Carlywood wrote:
As for beer, I tend to lean towards the lighter stuff, blondes or wheat ales.

Well, most of my favorite wheat beers are made by Ayinger. Try the Brau Weisse and the Ur-Weisse. They come in 500ml bottles and should be about $3 or so. See if the descriptions meets yor fancy.
Jamie

Darren72's advice is solid, though I would add that my favorite wine with pizza is Chianti -- it's got guts, it's not terribly subtle (which I find I don't really need with pizza), and you can get a good bottle for around $10 most anywhere. I like Il Bocce, but there are lots of decent Chianti out there.

Beer...I used to drink with pizza in college, but I really don't feel it works as well with pizza as does wine, but it's obviously a personal preference.

I understand the appeal of lighter styled beers with pizza. The carbonation provides the acidity needed to stand up to tomato sauce. In wine, the same principle applies. Stay away from wines that are high in tannin as the acidity of the pizza will make the wine taste metalic. Wines that are low in tannin, but high in acidity work quite well. Chianti is a good suggestion. For something off the beaten track, try a cru Beaujolais. Bright fruit, good acidity, low in tannin and very versatile with a variety of pizza toppings.