PIZZA EXCESS

Jane making the pizza

Jane was the sommelier, chef and host for our April 2013 wine tasting evening.  She chose the theme of
“Wine and Pizza” and had obviously done quite a bit of research into unusual pizza recipes and the best pairings to go with them.  Thus she served us six different pizzas and six different “good value” wines for our nine-person judging panel to rank.  Read on below to see how she did:

As usual we tasted all six wines blind to prevent any prejudice entering the results.  All scores quoted are out of twenty and the wines are presented in descending order of preference.  Scores are presented in the order John E, Ian, Sarah, Kathryn, Clive, Steve S, Chris and Andy.  Prices are the aproximate prices that Jane paid and included some special offers.

Jane brings in one of her pizzas

1. Edmond Bourdelat Rose Brut Champagne NV, French Sparkling Rose 12%, from the producer €18.20.

This was our first wine of the night and as well as accompanying the pizza was to celebrate my birthday.  It was a copper coloured rose and with some orange and peaches on the palate was excellent champagne.  Jane paired it extremely well with a Salmon and Crème Fraiche pizza that she used to eat in a kosher restaurant in Las Halles Paris.  Six of our nine-person panel voted this their wine of the night and it was about twice as expensive as any other wine.  Scores were 15.5, 15, 19, 19, 18, 13.5, 15 and 11.25.  It was definitely a hit with Kathryn who finished the bottle.  It is made from 20% Chardonnay and 80% Pinot Meunier with a 14% dose of Pinot Meunier red wine to give it the colour.  Definitely one of the top small producers, shame they only sell in France.  Here is a link to their excellent website should you be in the area.

2.Tesco Finest Chianti Riserva 2009 Antonella Conti, Tuscan Red 13%, Tesco £6.00.

Easily the best red of the evening for most of us was this value Chianti that paired very well with a Pepperoni and mozzarella pizza.  This wine was big on flavour and proved a great finish to the pizza selection.  Six of us had this wine in their top two wines of the evening. Scores were 14, 14, 17, 11, 18, 16.5, 13 and 11.   A real hit and a great priced pizza wine.  Normal price is around £8 and can be bought on-line by clicking here.

3. Old Vine Selection Tempranillo Extemadura 2011,  Spanish Red 14.5%, Tesco £6.49

Most of us thought this was an Australian red and it certainly had a warm climate flavour.  Jane paired this with a Chard, cherry tomato, wild garlic pesto, aged gouda and parmesan pizza.  The big flavours were of both food and wine were able to stand up to one another.  One of our team liked this the wine the best and most had it in their top four wines.  Scores were 13, 13.5, 11.25, 10, 14, 14.25, 10 and 12.  Andy’s favourite, he liked the good full taste.

Cutting the pizza

4.  Chianti 2011 Wine Selection at Asda 2011, Italian Red 12.5%,

  Asda £5.00.

This was a very soft tasting wine with a good fruity bouquet.  Jane paired this with an excellent Pancetta lardons, mushroom and tomato pizza. All of our team had this in their top four wines and Clive had it as his favourite.   Scores were 12, 12, 11, 11, 18, 13.75, 10.5 and eleven.  Most of us thought it was Spanish but this is still a good  £5 pizza wine.

5. La Piazza Nero D’Avola – Sangiovese Mineo Family 2011, Sicilian Red 13%, £5.

Some described this wine as smoky and cheeky.  I felt t had that cheap red wine taste and it was definitely helped by pairing it with the three cheese and caremelized onion pizza.   One of the team had it in their top two wines but the rest had it in their bottom two.  Scores were 9.75, 9, 7, 10, 14, 8, 8 and 11.5.  Appreciated by Andy but the rest of us would give this one a miss.

6. Rawnsley Estate Chardonnay New South Wales 2011, Australian Dry
White 12%, Tesco £5.00.

Our tasting team rarely appreciates chardonnays apart from Chablis and thus no surprise that this finished last.  Jane had paired this with a white three-cheese and Marsala pizza topped with rocket.  Most though the wine was a rather disappointing and it may not have been helped by the pizza being rather sweet.  Scores were 11.5, 9, 9, 11, 14, 7.5, 9.5 and 9.  Too bland for most but white wine lover Kathryn had it her top three.

For dessert, Jane served us with some Mango sorbet paired with a 2005 Montlouis dessert wine.  Then we had coffee and chocolates to round off an excellent evening.  Jane's smoked salmon, Pepperoni, and Mushroom pizzas were particularly appreciated. As usual she spent a lot of time cooking, ably helped by her trusty Thermomix.  You can view many recipes on her blog which can be found by clicking on Why Is There Air.

All smiles as everyone anticipates the pizza

Coming up next month on Friday 10^th May is Chris’s Rhone Rangers evening in Farnborough.  Then we remain in Farnborough in June on Saturday 22nd  for Ian and Kathryn’s Portuguese night.  We are back to Tongham for Steve S and his Cracking the Languedoc evening on Friday 5^th July.  On Friday 9^th August, I will be presenting another Fine Wine evening featuring some mature Riojas.  As usual, everyone is welcome to join us as long as they enjoy good company, wine and food.  Full details in Wine Circle above.

As usual, many thanks to Clive who took most of the photos.  Well done to Jane for another excellent evening.

Jane bringing in the blind tasting bottles

One of our favourites - Pepperoni Pizza

Smoked Salmon was also popular

Who says they don't want more pizza!