Francis Ford Coppola Winery Is Giving Away a Trip to Italy

Love pizza? Love Wine? Dreaming of a trip to Italy? Then this cooking competition may be your thing.

Just as you start feeling the FOMO of everyone and their friends and family and everyone in between posting pics of their summertime jaunts to Italy, you can try and turn that Italian vacation envy into a legit trip.

Francis Ford Coppola Winery just announced its third annual “Perfect Your Pizza” competition, and the grand prize is bigger and better than ever: An epic trip to pizza’s homeland, Rome and Naples.  

The iconic California wine estate is encouraging home cooks to submit an original pizza recipe and wine pairing for the chance to win the ultimate, all-expenses-paid pizza-and-wine-lover’s trip of a lifetime to Italy — with a guest.

The pizza and wine-lover’s Italian getaway includes two direct flights to Rome, where travelers will be guided on a specialized tour of the world-famous pizza within Italy’s capital city. From Rome, the winner and their guest will travel to Naples, the birthplace of Neapolitan pizza. Here, five-star accommodations await, along with a curated itinerary of cheese-filled expeditions to highlight the city’s pizza culture. 

Rather feast on Italian fare at home? Winners can also opt for a $25,000 cash prize instead of the trip.

Before the booking, however, four finalists will also receive a fully comped trip to the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Sonoma County to compete in a live cook-off this October for the grand prize. The public event at the Geyserville winery estate will take place on October 12, and attendees can watch the contestants make their pizza entries, enjoy them with the suggested pairings, and more. Tickets to the pizza party can be purchased beginning September 9 via the Francis Ford Coppola Winery website. 

“Our mission is to forge a stronger connection between pizza and wine while showing Americans that the right wine can take your pizza experience to the next level,” said Gabriela Becker, vice president of marketing for Coppola Wines. “In the spirit of discovering the perfect Coppola wine and pizza pairing, we’re excited to offer the chance to travel to pizza’s homeplace to inspire wine and pizza lovers everywhere.”

Last year, the second iteration of the “Perfect Your Pizza” competition opened up a text tip line for the public to ask Coppola Winery’s experts about pizza and wine pairings. New Jersey pizza expert Dan Richer, author of The Joy of Pizza: Everything You Need to Know, led the judging, and will do so again for this year’s competition. In 2023, a Dungeness crab pizza with spinach, artichokes, and cream sauce won the competition. 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 “Perfect Your Pizza” open on July 1. Contestants can enter by visiting  www.coppolaperfectyourpizza.com and providing their ingredient lists, a full recipe, and the story inspiration behind their unique creations, plus a short video or photo of the pizza. Contestants can also enter by uploading their creations to Instagram with an image or short video, recipe, inspiration notes, and a suggested Francis Coppola Diamond Collection wine pairing, with the hashtags #CoppolaPerfectYourPizza24 and #21+. Contestants must be 21 or older at the time of entry and be legal residents of the United States. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. ET on August 31, 2024.