Admittedly, at first it felt like an intimidating task to craft a wine that would be a perfect match for Chris’s cuisine — after all, tomatoes present some challenges for wine pairing. The prominent sweet-sour balance of tomatoes begs for a wine with an appropriate balance of sweet fruit, bright acidity, and fine tannins that cleanse the palate. Furthermore, the savory ingredients that often accompany tomatoes — meats, mushrooms, cheese, peppers, herbs, and so on — are, in our opinion, best matched by a wine that presents delicately savory aromas layered in with the aromas of fruit.

Sangiovese is commonly considered the most famous pairing for tomato-based cuisine, presenting savory aromas of tomato leaf, leather, tobacco, and dried herbs, and offering a palate of sweet-tart cherry fruit. But we don’t have Sangiovese in our cellar, so how could we capture a similar balance of aroma and texture?! The answer wasn’t immediately apparent, but eventually a strategy emerged. We decided to capture some savory aromatics by including Cabernet Franc, known for its savory bouquet of peppers, herbs, tobacco, and florals. We then discovered that if we brought Gamay Noir to the party, we’d get that bright, crunchy acidity we needed. Finally, we added Pinot Noir into the blend to promote the elegant, fine-grain tannin structure we were looking for. Each of these varietals contributed nuance to a dynamic range of deep red fruit character, with an appropriate concentration of sweetness to match the sweetness of tomatoes.

We fine-tuned our blend, then we set about putting the wine to the test, first in the winery kitchen, acquiring Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes and following Chris’s recipes for marinara, pizza, and pasta. We gained confidence that we had created a great match for Chris’s cuisine. Subsequently, multiple visits were made to Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix for tasting sessions. Ultimately, Chris enthusiastically offered his blessing on the wine, and the 2023 Call & Response was born.