Pizza and wine can be a match made you know where, so why is decent  quality wine often in short supply at many pizzerias?
“It often seems like an after thought but it doesn’t have to be because it’s easy to create a drinks list that is fun and low key without being pretentious or overly complicated,” said Daniel Dew of Regional Wines & Spirits, when he launched a new wine list he had curated at Heaven Woodfire Pizza in Wellington last Monday.

He launched the new wine list at the Cuba Street pizzeria because the venue has new owners and is having a refresh.

Dew is the go to guy at Regional Wines & Spirits for the restaurant and bar trade. He is charged with the task of creating interesting wine and beverage lists for cafes, bars and restaurants around town, as well as providing information to them.

It sounds like a fun job, but ticking the boxes of affordability, availability and appealability can be an extremely challenging one, so Dew’s role is, like most jobs, part creative solution, part pragmatic reality.  He invited me to co host last Monday’s tasting, at which we talked about taste, personal preferences and classic matches.

Pizza and wine stand outs

Fresh green flavours, refreshing high acidity and a medium body made the Soho Reserve Stella Sauvignon Blanc a sublime match with the fresh green herb flavours in the seafood marinara pizza.

Montepulciano and meat…

The 2010 Tenuta Ulisse Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a velvety, full bodied red from central Italy, which proved popular with the regulars at Heaven last last month; it also matched beautifully with the pancetta and pepperoni pizza – the meaty flavours worked well with the crisp savoury wood fired pizza base and its slivers of savoury-sweet protein on top. I personally enjoyed this wine and the pizza it was matched to, but it also matched because of its complementary flavours.

Chardonnay with salmon and cream cheese…

The 2016 Tony Bish Fat n Sassy Chardonnay is a big, buttery, full bodied wine that matched decadently well with the salmon and cream cheese pizza – a hedonistic, richly flavoured dish. It was a case of like with like, and it worked, for those who love the creamy intensity of the dish. I found this incredibly rich and found myself opting for the vegetable pizza, preferring its savouriness with the other red wines that Dan included on the new list.

The new Heaven Woodfire Pizza wine list will launch this month:

Beach House Merlot Cabernet Franc

Soho Stella Sauvignon Blanc

Greystone Pinot Gris

Tony Bish Fat n Sassy Chardonnay

Te Tera Kiritea Pinot Noir

Tenuta Ulisse Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

Blackenbrook Pinot Rosé

 

 The cellar wine list is made up entirely of Italian vino and features:

Pieropan Soave Classico

Punset Barbera d’Alba

Leone di Castris Salice Salentino

Maretti Langhe Rosso

Rocca delle Macie Tenuta Sant’Alfonzo Chianti Classico

Umani Ronchi Cumaro Conero Riserva

Lamborghini Campoleone Umbria IGT

Need new wines on your list?

Contact Dan Dew at Regional Wines & Spirits, phone 027 250 0009