Prosecco Styles Pairing with Seafood Pizza

In recent weeks I have been doing an awful lot of Prosecco tastings not least with the recent introduction of the Rosé Millesimato to the market, but also for Instagram lives and Vivino reviews.

Prosecco is such an easy to drink wine, slightly less alcohol compared to Champagne with usually 11% compared to 12.5/13% respectively, but also tempting fruity and moreish.

Another great reason to open up a bottle of Prosecco is for its versatility in pairing with a whole range of different foods from simple finger nibbles to main meal dishes such as fish and Thai curries. The wine holds a tremendous fruity expression with a refreshing acidity that, though not overly aggressive, is capable of cutting through many hearty meals that are greasy / spicy.

 

Northern Italy’s most famous sparkling wine region, Prosecco, is exported globally with the biggest single country market being that of the UK (378 million bottles exported in 2019, the rest of Europe took over 70% – Prosecco DOC).

Another Italian invention is pizza, said to have been officially born in the 18th-century at Naples when it was initially sold*. Today it stands as the most popular takeaway dish / fast food in many countries with the USA said to consume over 3 billion annually.

“Some three billion pizzas are sold each year in the United States alone, an average of 46 slices per person.” source historytoday

From frozen microwave versions to those which are seen to be trendy and costing thousands of pounds to order, from Michelin star restaurants to those we make at home – We have a great deal of choice and price points when it comes to pizza.

 

Another important choice with pizza and usually the most widely debated in the topping. Are you a pepperoni fan or maybe a ham and pineapple, do you prefer crusty or deep pan, maybe you’d opt for vegan or prefer a meaty Chicago-style. The list is endless for toppings even though restaurants usually stick to the more popular styles including pepperoni, cheese and tomato, Hawaiian, vegetable, tuna and ham & mushroom.

“Pepperoni is literally the most classic and popular of all pizza toppings.” source therecipe

Pairing Prosecco and Pizza

For this article, I wanted to choose three different styles of Prosecco and opt for a homemade pizza with a fishy style to include prawns, mini scallops and flakes of cod.

 

The Prosecco were all award winning examples:

Villa Sandi – Il Fresco Biological Organic Brut DOC – tasting notes: “Fresh green fruits, creamy freshly cut grass in aromas. Silky fresh green pears and dry apples in flavours with the length being an array of creamy dark green apples.”

Montelvini – Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG Extra Brut –  tasting notes: “A silky, creamy chalk nose with green fruits and soft citrus hints. Flavours are fresh, clean and fruity – The Glera grape is delivering the fruity freshness over any added sugar. A drier style, but very mouth-watering.”

Casa Gheller – Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG –  tasting notes: “Pears and green apples on the nose. Fresh green apples and a citrus burst in flavours with a soft floral edge.”

Each Prosecco holds its own character thanks to the production style and also the terroir of where it is produced. The Prosecco wine region offers a variety of qualities from the standard mass produced, almost certainly aimed at supermarkets, to the finer and more expensive wines of the hillier regions of Conegliano Valdobbiadene.

 

Pairing notes:

Villa Sandi: “Brings out a sweeter character from the wine when paired. Initially, plenty of fresh green fruits then mellows to the fish flavours and closes with the toasted pizza crust.”

Montelvini: “Dried almonds, green fruits initially that takes away a lot of the savoury fish flavours. A fizzy fresh Prosecco flavour lingers at the close.”

Casa Gheller: “Plenty of sweet Glera grape characters to start with. Mid length shows a watery fish flavours with a sweet pastry close.”

 

* There are differing opinions on the real birth of pizza, it is also reported as originating from the Southern Italian town of Gaeta in 997 AD.