Pairing: Roasted Vegetable and Pepperoni Pizza with 2012 La Massa Toscana

Food: In our house, Saturday night is pizza night … has been for over thirty years. We’ve experimented with any number of crusts. Lately our favorite has been a sourdough crust based on a recipe from King Arthur. Toppings can be most any leftover veg. For this pizza, we roasted some tomato, summer squash, leek, and onion. Pepperoni and black oil-cured olives were added to the grated mozzarella. Classic (for us) … delicious.

Wine: Over the years of eating pizza, we have enjoyed a lot of Italian red wines with all that pizza. The 2012 La Massa IGT Toscana has to rank up there as one of our very favorites. Other vintage years have been equally satisfying. Fattoria La Massa is located in the Chianti wine region of Italy near the town of Panzano about half way between Florence and Siena. The 2012 La Massa IGT is 60% Sangiovese with the remainder consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Aliante. The inclusion of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (grapes most often associated with the Bordeaux region of France) gives this wine the identity of a “Super Tuscan”. Because of the inclusion of these grape varieties, they cannot call themselves a Chianti which has its own set of rules to follow.

Tasting: The nose reveals different black fruits (black cherry, black currant, blackberry). The palate continues the black fruit medley, but showcases the ripe black cherry. Leather and satiny tannins add further complexity. Although smooth, the wine also has the desirable “edges” typical of a good chianti. Very tasty with pizza.

Other Wines that Pair Well with This Food: Chianti Classico, Montapulciano, Merlot

Other Food that Pairs Well with This Wine:  Pasta with Tomato Sauce, Grilled Meats

Read About:    http://vinconnect.com/la-massa/

A Source:    klwines.com