Pizza Hut Tomato Wine: Does It Actually Taste Like Pizza Hut? We Found Out

There's something about the holiday season that brings to mind images of wine glasses clinking in group settings. And what's easier to feed a large group than pizza? Nothing. But, of course it wouldn't be a proper Italian night without a little vino to go along with it. 

So, Pizza Hut has just launched a limited edition bottle of its first-ever tomato wine. Yep, Pizza Hut is selling bottles of tomato wine, inspired by its own pizza recipe. Pizza Hut might not be the first place you think of uncorking wine, but you'd be surprised. Some Pizza Hut locations still even serve alcohol, and depending on your tastes, Pizza Hut is ranked pretty highly against other pizza chains. With that in mind, the chain is breaking neither tradition nor good sense with its limited launch of this product.

Normally, promotions like this come in the form of a giveaway or are sent to media professionals as part of a gimmick. Rarely does a brand make something like this available to the public for purchase, but leave it to Pizza Hut to make pizza wine a reality right before the holidays. Let's see if this bottle lives up to its branding, and what better way to do that, than with a personal pan pizza from the Hut?

To create these special bottles, Pizza Hut worked with Kansas-based winery called Just Beyond Paradise. Per Pizza Hut, the wine is infused with basil, made from tomatoes, and contains a blend of herbs and spices with a bit of toasted oak. All of this is meant to make the wine taste like Pizza Hut's pizza recipe. The bottle's label also notes that it contains vegetable juice for color. This makes sense when looking at the pour of the wine which has a lightly red tinted color, almost clear.

The tomato wine on its own and a gift set that includes two Pizza Hut wine glasses and a Pizza Hut corkscrew are both for sale on the winery's website. The wine alone is priced at $25 for two bottles, which is the minimum purchase or $60 for the gift set. Each bottle is 375 mL and contains 12.7% alcohol.

Does it actually taste like pizza, though? Well, yes and no. What this wine tastes like is tomato and some spices. In fact, I'd say it kind of tastes like a spiced up V8 juice drink with alcohol in it. But to answer the obvious question — yes this limited-time wine would pair well with a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut (as this author did), or with any pizza.

Pizza Hut's aim was for the wine to taste like its own creations, or at the very least, like its crust. I can't say thoughts of pizza came to mind on the first sip; for that to have happened, the wine should have had a more buttery quality. And while I'm not a fan of a dark red wine, it probably would have made more sense for the flavor.

As of this writing, the Pizza Hut Tomato Wine is sold out, but don't fret — another batch is coming for those who are eager to have their own pizza and wine night. In the meantime, you can try to find your nearest Pizza Hut "Classic" restaurant to really bring on the nostalgia ahead of the holiday season.