Pizza Beer and Wine – Chapter 2

Tonight’s Pizza:  A bit closer to our “normal” homemade pizza routine.  We have TJ’s crusts again, because I remembered just as I was about to fall asleep that I should have made crusts last night.  Given that making a batch of crusts is an hour-long process (though 45 minutes of that is waiting), I settled for asking Liz “any chance you could stop by Trader Joe’s tomorrow and grab crusts?”  Since we have crusts, I assume she answered in the affirmative.  We are, however, back to whole milk mutz/Parmagiano-Reggiano combo for the cheese, fresh Italian sausage (spicy) from Viviano’s, and homemade pizza sauce from San Marzano tomatoes, Kim’s homemade red wine vinegar, salt and oregano.

Tonight’s Beer:  Riffing off a suggestion made by Mike over on Stlhops forum, I decided to pour a Schlafly Oatmeal Stout.  I have this on draft right now, and have enjoyed some similar beers with more traditional pizza before, New Belgium’s 1554 springing most readily to mind.  Schlafly’s Oatmeal is not too roasty (which can easily clash with the acidity of the tomatoes), and has a slickness of body from the oatmeal that I’m interested to pair with this pie.

On its own, this one has a roasty, grainy nose.  It’s nice and malty on the palate with a slight touch of fruitiness from the yeast.  Good length too.  I find this seems (for no reason based in reality) to have a bit more body on draft than it does in bottle.

Tonight’s Wine:  2001 Nino Negri Valtellina Superiore Inferno.  This should be a serious pizza wine contender here.  Seven year old mostly Nebbiolo (just a touch of Pinot Noir and Pignola Valtellinese) from a Northern Italian region known for its elegance, finesse and acidity.  I’ve not had this particular bottling before, so there is a touch of uncertainty here.

This is a very pale clear burgundy with the slightest touch of browning.  Very floral nose backed up by some acidic blackberry notes.  Surprisingly delicate in flavor but with great length.  It’s deceptively light and lively.

How’d it work out?:

Well, the wine was a clear winner for me this time.  It was just one of those magical wines that seems to refresh and energize with each sip.  It cut effectively through the richness of the cheese and sausage without pushing them completely off the palate.  Instead it left a lovely synergy of fatty goodness, tingly acidity, and just a blush of fruit.  There is a scratch of tannins left in this wine that come out when one drinks it just with the crust.

The beer fares better than most in my experience.  It doesn’t actively clash with the pizza as so many do, but it doesn’t compliment it either.  Going from pizza to beer is like changing the channel – there’s something completely different on the palate all of a sudden, and no pizza remains.  It does manage my typical beer/pizza reaction when I get down to the crust – the roastiness becomes actively bitter and the alcohol, depsite being half of what the wine has, is suddenly center stage.  This round goes to the wine for my palate.