Match of the week

Alta Langa spumante and pizza

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on May 30 2018 at 16:03

Last week I was in Piemonte exploring the world of vermouth with Roberto Bava of Cocchi. I discovered many startlingly good pairings about which more about in due course but the one I was most intrigued by was their Alta Langa sparkling wine with pizza, not a combination I would have expected at all.

The pizzas, which we sampled at a pizza restaurant in Asti called cRust (no I wouldn’t have been encouraged to go there either by that name), weren’t your average pizza by any means though. The toppings were mostly fresh or very lightly cooked but what made them so especially good with sparkling wine was the incredibly light, airy crisp base, the result, apparently of a triple-fermented dough.

We tried several different toppings of which the standout combinations were the Toto Corde which is made from pinot noir and chardonnay with a napoletana-style pizza with two different kinds of tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and a basil sauce and the gloriously fruity Rosa (made 100% from pinot noir) with a topping of gorgonzola, treviso and honey.

Frustratingly the wines, which are interestingly fermented in tank rather than in the bottle, aren’t available in the UK. I suggest someone contacts Cocchi and offers to import them ;-)

You can read more about the Alta Langa denomination here.

Other good pairings with pizza

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