Pairing Wine with Pizza | Listen

TLP sat down with Anthony Guerra of Oakwood Pizza Box in Raleigh, North Carolina and Tutti Pizza in Charleston to discuss the hot topic of pairing wine with pizza. Following the recent debut of Tutti, Guerra is excited to open his third concept, St. Pierre, a wine bar and bottle shop in Raleigh Iron Works later this year. From the overabundance of Lambrusco on pizza menus to destigmatizing champagne bottles, Guerra shares his thoughts and favorite pairings.

TLP: How did Oakwood Pizza box become a wine haven in Raleigh?

Anthony Guerra: Oakwood is a very personal project. It’s me, it’s my life. I’ve had two distinct parts of my career so far: owning a wood fired pizza place and sommeliering in fine dining. When it came time to open Oakwood, I wanted to merge my two past lives, wine and pizza. 

I love champagne: champagne in the afternoon, champagne with pizza, champagne really anytime. With Oakwood, we wanted to create a space where wine wasn’t stuffy or restrictive, but approachable and fun. People mistake wine as something only for high-brow cuisine, isolated to steakhouses and bistros, but wine is meant to be enjoyed. Wine mark ups are really unfair and off-putting to both guests and staff, meaning a lot of bottles go untouched. At Oakwood, we have a Coke fridge on site fully dedicated to champagne with bottles ranging from $60 to $600. There’s no wine list. People who come in ready to pair a pizza with a high-end Chablis, we got it, but they have to know where to look for it.

TLP: How will St. Pierre work hand-in-hand with Oakwood?

Anthony Guerra: St. Pierre is looking like a late summer or early fall opening. It will work in tandem with Oakwood, expanding our bottle offerings, space for our regulars, and our opportunities. Simply put, if we can buy more wine, we can get more creative in our partnerships and experimentation. 

We’re already starting a lot of exciting projects, including a couple private labels we’re working on in California. For example, the Lambrusco-pizza pairing is overdone, so we’re creating a Lambrusco in the Pét-Nat family – and that’s just one of many projects. 

St. Pierre will have an operating partner, which is really huge for me. Being able to bring in promising talent from our community and set them up for success is my real motivation. Oakwood is my home run, but I’m ready to give someone else in the industry their chance. Restaurant work is often associated with struggle, survival, or ego, but owning a restaurant has changed my life for good, and I want to give someone else that shot.

TLP: Tell me about your involvement with Tutti in Charleston?

Anthony Guerra: Tutti is doing amazingly well. Miles White, Femi Oyediran, and I align on vision and the wine synergy is effortless. When we first started discussing the space I naturally foresaw a pizza spot. I have always had my eye on Charleston, and jumped at the opportunity to be involved. My wife and I were married in Charleston and visit often. My middle daughter, Olivia, has always dreamed about opening a pizza spot in Charleston, so it’s really cool to bring that to fruition for her. The partnership is so natural, and the community loves it. Making pizza there has been an honor.

TLP: What’s your bottle selection process? Will it vary between concepts?

Anthony Guerra: Selecting bottles at Oakwood is fairly methodical for me. My brain needs to organize units by similarity then filter everything down. But, the real test is taking the bottle home to my wife. She’d never admit it, but her palate is phenomenal even though she’s totally untrained. We eat pizza every Sunday, and my wife’s reaction lets me know everything I need to know about if it will work in Oakwood.

At Tutti, the selection is run by Kirsten, but Femi is just a massive wealth of knowledge. Truly, he’s on a whole other plane. If you need to know anything, he’s your guy to walk you through it in a way that’s exciting and understandable. 

When we open St. Pierre, we will have a larger team to divide up selection by region. That said, so much of this is about fostering and maintaining relationships within the wine industry. The mutual support between these relationships is more than just communal, it’s deeply personal. I’ve grown alongside these other people in the industry since my early twenties. They’ve seen me figure it all out.

TLP: How do you think the culture around wine is shifting?

Anthony Guerra: Wine culture can feel daunting right now, and I could easily choose a more pessimistic outlook. That said, I’m always looking for what’s next and how things will shift for the better. 

Maybe one of the biggest things I’ve seen for wine is wine is now present at the party. Party drinks used to be centered on vodka or tequila, but now wine is everywhere: high-acid whites and Pét-Nats are keeping the party going. 

I’m also seeing a more diverse community of wine drinkers, we even have some NBA players who are regulars at Oakwood. It’s no longer old white guys in suits, it’s everyday people drinking and appreciating wine. It’s really encouraging to see wine get destigmatized and people opting for wine that feels valuable to them.

Anthony Guerra Pairs Wine with Pizza

The recipe: Tutti’s and Oakwood’s Round Cheese

The bottle: Pierre Paillard Les Parcelles NV

Why it Works: Champagne works incredibly well with our pizza. This Pinot Noir bubbly plays well with the aged Grana Padano we finish the cheese pizza off with. The pairing is amplified if the pizza is well done. 

The Dish: Grilled Eggplant Pizza

The Pairing: Nerello Mascalese – Frank Cornelissen Susucaru

Why it Works: Nerello Mascalese is a light to medium bodied red (think Pinot Noir). Grown mostly on Mount Etna volcano in Sicily, these wines have great acid to pair with fresh mozz and wake up the charred eggplant.

The Dish: Diavola Pizza

The Pairing: Cruse St Laurent Pet Nat

Why it Works: Why it works: Cruse Pet Nat’s are a stable in my house during the summer. It’s light and fresh with enough fruit to hold up to the spice and porky-ness of nduja.

The Dish: Roasted Garlic and Shiitake Mushroom Pizza Recipe

The Pairing:  Langhe Nebbiolo Cascina Penna-Currado

Why it Works: Wild mushrooms and Nebbiolo are meant for each other. Penna-Currado is a relatively new winery with a long history in the region (The Vietti Family) but just about any nice Langhe Nebbiolo will pair well. The roasted garlic and mushroom would play nicely with this light bodied, cherry-fruited red.

The Dish: Cannoli

The Pairing:  Braulio (Italian amaro shaken with ice and an orange twist)

Why it Works: Shaken Braulio is the best drink to end any dinner with. Cinnamon from the cannoli show up in the Italian amaro and the two seem to lift each other. As my grandma always told me, “a little sweetness to cut the fullness” is the best way to end a meal.

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