Recipe | How to Pair Pizza with Wine

Recipes from Our California Table by Brian Talley

What Grows Together Goes Together

Each year, just before harvest kicks off, we host a poolside pizza party with our production team to set the tone for the season ahead. This year, for our Staff Kickoff party we had the whole tasting room team come to celebrate our new fall releases and taste through the lineup with our winemaking team and learn about the wines we are going to share with all our members. This was an excellent opportunity to try all the wines and find out which wines pair best with which pizzas.

We tried a lot of combinations (it’s research, we promise), but two pairings quickly became favorites. First up: our Chardonnays paired with a pizza layered in shaved beets, squash blossoms, goat cheese, and a swirl of pesto. All of these ingredients are can be pulled straight from our Talley Farms Box. This pairing is about place. Our Chardonnays are bright, textured, and full of energy, with notes ranging from Lemon and Oyster Shell to yellow apple, jasmine, and mascarpone. That balance of orchard fruit, citrus, and coastal minerality lifts the earthiness of the beets, softens the tang of the goat cheese, and comes together in one juicy, farm-fresh bite.

And then there’s Pinot Noir and peppers. As my dad is a lifelong pepper grower, he’s always has a variation of this pizza (during pepper season). The sweetness and gentle spice of roasted bell peppers highlight the layered fruit and foresty notes in our estate-grown Pinot Noirs. Add mushrooms for an earthy edge or pepperoni for a little salt and sizzle. Our Pinots are known for their delicate and floral notes of berry, cherry, blood orange, and forest floor. You’ll find red fruits and spice, violets and pine, a little flint, and a lot of elegance, perfect for a fresh out of the oven pizza.

Pizza night has a bit of everything we value: great ingredients, estate-grown wines, and the people who bring it all together. If you’re looking for the perfect pairing at home, start with what’s in season and luckily our wines never go out of season.

Peppers Pizza with Pinot Noir

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup mixed bell peppers (red, green, yellow) sliced into 1/2 inch strips
  • Olive oil
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper flakes
  • 3 ounces mixed cheese: mozzarella, fontina, Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram or oregano
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • Optional: Sautéd mushrooms or pepperoni

Instructions:

  1. Sauté peppers in 1 teaspoon olive oil with pinch of salt until they just begin to soften.
  2. Drizzle olive oil on the crust, then add pepper flakes. Add mixed cheese and sautéd peppers. Finish with marjoram or oregano and thyme.

Shaved Beets, Squash Blossomsand Chardonnay

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 medium-size red beet
  • 1/4 cup pesto
  • 2-4 squash blossoms
  • 3 ounces goat cheese
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • Olive oil

Instructions:

  1. Peel beet and boil it for about 10 minutes, until slightly softened. Slice thin with a mandoline.
  2. Spread pesto over pizza dough, leaving about 1/2 inch around the perimeter. Arrange beet slices over pesto, followed by squash blossoms, then goat cheese. Add salt and drizzle with olive oil.