Francis Ford Coppola Vineyard Is Giving Away a Journey to Italy

Love pizza? Love Wine? Dreaming of a visit to Italy? Then this cooking competitors could also be your factor.

Simply as you begin feeling the FOMO of everybody and their family and friends and everybody in between posting pics of their summertime jaunts to Italy, you may attempt to flip that Italian trip envy right into a legit journey.

Francis Ford Coppola Vineyard simply introduced its third annual “Excellent Your Pizza” competitors, and the grand prize is greater and higher than ever: An epic journey to pizza’s homeland, Rome and Naples.  

The long-lasting California wine property is encouraging dwelling cooks to submit an authentic pizza recipe and wine pairing for the possibility to win the last word, all-expenses-paid pizza-and-wine-lover’s journey of a lifetime to Italy — with a visitor.

The pizza and wine-lover’s Italian getaway contains two direct flights to Rome, the place vacationers can be guided on a specialised tour of the world-famous pizza inside Italy’s capital metropolis. From Rome, the winner and their visitor will journey to Naples, the birthplace of Neapolitan pizza. Right here, five-star lodging await, together with a curated itinerary of cheese-filled expeditions to focus on town’s pizza tradition. 

Somewhat feast on Italian fare at dwelling? Winners may go for a $25,000 money prize as an alternative of the journey.

Earlier than the reserving, nonetheless, 4 finalists can even obtain a totally comped journey to the Francis Ford Coppola Vineyard in Sonoma County to compete in a dwell cook-off this October for the grand prize. The general public occasion on the Geyserville vineyard property will happen on October 12, and attendees can watch the contestants make their pizza entries, get pleasure from them with the steered pairings, and extra. Tickets to the pizza occasion will be bought starting September 9 through the Francis Ford Coppola Vineyard web site. 

“Our mission is to forge a stronger connection between pizza and wine whereas displaying People that the correct wine can take your pizza expertise to the subsequent stage,” mentioned Gabriela Becker, vp of selling for Coppola Wines. “Within the spirit of discovering the proper Coppola wine and pizza pairing, we’re excited to supply the possibility to journey to pizza’s homeplace to encourage wine and pizza lovers in all places.”

Final 12 months, the second iteration of the “Excellent Your Pizza” competitors opened up a textual content tip line for the general public to ask Coppola Vineyard’s specialists about pizza and wine pairings. New Jersey pizza professional Dan Richer, writer of The Pleasure of Pizza: All the things You Have to Know, led the judging, and can achieve this once more for this 12 months’s competitors. In 2023, a Dungeness crab pizza with spinach, artichokes, and cream sauce gained the competitors. Finalists included an Italian Beef pizza with giardiniera, a prosciutto and jalapeño pizza, and a three-cheese pie with pancetta and balsamic glaze.

Submissions for “Excellent Your Pizza” open on July 1. Contestants can enter by visiting  www.coppolaperfectyourpizza.com and offering their ingredient lists, a full recipe, and the story inspiration behind their distinctive creations, plus a brief video or picture of the pizza. Contestants may enter by importing their creations to Instagram with a picture or quick video, recipe, inspiration notes, and a steered Francis Coppola Diamond Assortment wine pairing, with the hashtags #CoppolaPerfectYourPizza24 and #21+. Contestants have to be 21 or older on the time of entry and be authorized residents of the USA. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. ET on August 31, 2024.