This week I wanted to review a delicious Italian Red that I got to enjoy at a new Pizza bar around the corner from our apartment. I noticed it had opened up when we were moving, and that it joined by two of my favourite things: Pizza and Wine, so naturally I wanted to check it out. But we’ve been so busy that we haven’t been able to get there with everything that’s been going on. So when my parents wanted to catch up and check it out, I jumped at the opportunity.

The Pizza bar is called Lupa and offers traditional Roman pizzas. My partner wasn’t too happy as this means that they are quite light on toppings, but I loved the pizzas and the flavour combinations. So if you’re able to get there, I would highly recommend! The only thing I would say is that their wine list, although all Italian, is quite expensive. It was about half the bill of our meal, and the pizzas weren’t the cheapest. But it was so delicious that I could forgive them, and I would definitely go back!

We had an awesome wine here which I absolutely loved, and I thought I would share with you so you might be able to scope it out at your local bottle shop, or if you do go to Lupa Pizza Bar, I would highly recommend ordering it! I am definitely partial to a good red wine, especially when it is from Italy! Italian wines from all over Italy hold a special place in my heart, so I’m a little surprised that I haven’t written about one yet. No time like the present though!

Barbera + pizza = heaven

The wine we tried was the 2014 Montalbera Fuori Catalogo Barbera. It doesn’t have a pretty bottle, but often the best Italian wines have a simple label. As always, I look out for the DOC label on the top of the bottle. This is a good indicator of a wine that represents the area that it comes from well. This wine is from Piemonte, which I have been told is the best wine region of Italy (jury is still out for me, but I guess I don’t play favourites), and it definitely delivered in flavour.

Why I loved it

What I loved about this wine was a. how well it went down with pizza (pizza pairing was definitely rated a 10, this wine went perfectly), b. how smooth it was to drink, and c. how easy it was to drink despite being a little heavier than what I’d normally drink with Pizza.

This is definitely a medium bodied wine, which in non wine speak basically means that it sits right in between being super light and easy to drink, and being very heavy and rich in flavour. This means to me that it isn’t too fruity and light, but not too heavy with lots of tannins, making it harder to drink and more suitable to something like roasted meat. I feel like because this wine sits in the middle, it means it actually goes with a lot of food, which is always good in my books!

What I loved about this was that I felt like the wine had an almost vanilla taste to it. I’m not trying to talk wine speak, I promise. Rather than tasting fruity, I felt like it was more subtle in its sweetness, and although it hinted at this, the vanilla tones meant it was a nicely balanced wine. It was very smooth without too much acidity, just enough to give it a little punch.

What to enjoy it with

This wine went so well with pizza, I absolutely loved having it with our meal. I wish I’d had another glass to enjoy with the meal, or to bring along to gelati afterwards! Italian wine seems to go with everything, I don’t know what it is. This is why I love it so much!

Final verdict

So if you see this bottle in the bottle shop, I would highly recommend grabbing one to try. Or if you go to Lupa, definitely check this awesome wine out.