Last week, Pizza Hut dropped a product on the world that we didn’t know we needed: Pizza wine. Not wine to pair with pizza (although you could, I guess) but pizza-flavored wine. Made from tomatoes. It comes in a 375 ml bottle for $25, and there’s also a gift set ($60) with two stainless steel commemorative wine glasses in bright red.
We have not tried it. Nor are we likely to ever try it, because it sold out almost instantly. as buzzy fast-food collabs are wont to do. (Remember Arby’s Curly Fry Vodka?) Early reviewers strike a bemused tone about the concept, but are generally not enthusiastic about the taste. “Absolutely hideous in a glass” and “undrinkable” writes Heather Martin at Today.
But let’s back up for a minute. Tomato wine? Now, we all know you can make alcohol from just about anything with fermentable sugar, and if the base material is a fruit you may call the end product a wine. But does anyone really do this with tomatoes?
Yes, yes–it turns out they do. Tomato wine has long been a thing in the homebrewing, gardening, and frugal food community. It kinda makes sense: Tomato plants have a habit of turning out a massive crop of highly perishable fruits. If you don’t freeze them, bottle/can them, or give them away to friends, wine fermentation is another option for preserving their bounty. You can also make tomato wine with the by-products of your other tomato hobbies–your bruised, damaged, previously frozen, and ugly tomatoes. There is a tomato wine recipe in the classic Joy of Home Wine Making and plenty more floating around online.
More tomato wine factoids: Tomato wine is best made with ripe, sweet tomatoes. Tomatoes don’t have tannins–a deficiency some home-brewers counteract with the addition of raisins, grape juice or blackcurrants. It can be barrel-aged, which adds a hint of toasted oak.
To tomato wine aficionados, the product looks and tastes like white wine and is best served chilled. It’s pale in color, usually no more than 12% ABV, with slight tomato-y notes. Some tasters compare it to dry sherry or white port. The Pizza Hut rendition has natural color and flavoring added and so is bright Pizza Hut red. It also tastes (strangely, some say) of pizza seasoning, basil, and garlic.
So how can you get your hands on some tomato wine if you’re not a food influencer or a homesteader? Well, you can join the wait list for the next batch of the Pizza Chateau, if you’re so inclined. You can also seek out a commercial winery that specializes in brew from the love apple.
There’s Omerto, in Québec, which claims to be the first commercial producer of tomato wine and got a thorough write-up on the food blog Edible Road Trip. They offer tours and tastings by appointment. In Kansas there is Irvine’s Winery, which made the special bottling for Pizza Hut and offers tomato wine products along with their grape wines. As of this writing, the Tomato Table Wine ($17 for 750 ml) and oak-aged Pomodoro Wine ($15 for 375 ml) are in stock and available to ship to most US States.
Have you tried tomato wine? Do you love or hate foodie promo gimmicks like Pizza Hut’s? Let us know in the comments!
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