Traditional wine pairings often include cheese and chocolate, but what about something not normally associated with the beverage? According to the Los Angeles Times, a new app specifically designed to pair wine with pizza recently launched, and while this may seem absurd to some, it opens up possibilities for what winemakers might include directly on their wine labels.
This new app allows users to access the website’s database of taste information and find an appropriate type of wine based on the pizza they’re eating. With just a few clicks, diners match desired toppings with either a red or white wine and the site offers up a possible beverage choice, along with a short explanation of why this wine is a good fit.
It’s just one of the offerings from the company VinePair, which also features a more general app for accommodating different types of takeout food. However, it’s worth considering whether these offerings really provide accurate information. The Times’ S. Irene Virbila criticized the pizza app for not being specific enough.
“For anybody with more wine knowledge, the recommendations are just too general to be useful — since each of the wines recommended are made in many different styles,” Virbila writes. “In an effort to be accessible and not seem pretentious, the site’s founders and authors (all knowledgeable wine people) have perhaps gone too far in the other direction.”
Since pizza comes in all sorts of styles, from the common “junk food” types to fancier “artisan” versions, wine companies could take a cue from this app and provide basic pairing options or information on the labels themselves.
With high-powered printing technology, independent companies have the means to use standard label-making tools to make creative and educational packaging that invents new ways to appeal to customer needs.