August 2007 - Competition is piping hot in the Second Annual CAVIT GOURMET PIZZA CLASSIC, which is set to draw to a dramatic finale on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at Peasant Restaurant in New York City. Hosted by Cavit Collection wines in conjunction with Cooking Light magazine, this year’s Classic attracted nearly 15,000 entries from Cavit fans and home pizza cooks around the country, who submitted their favorite gourmet pizza recipes to vie for a chance to win the title "America’s Best Gourmet Pizza" and an all-expense-paid trip for two to Italy.

Chef Billy of Cooking Light had the difficult task of paring down this abundance of mouth-watering recipes to just five finalists, who will prepare their recipes live on camera later this month before a panel of three expert judges. Joining Chef Billy on the judging panel is Cesare Casella, acclaimed Italian chef, media personality, cookbook author and owner of the famed Beppe and Maremma restaurants in NYC, as well as Chris Gatto, executive chef for Uno Chicago Grill, a family of 200 restaurants across the U.S. highly regarded for their classic deep dish pizza style.

The judges will taste each pie, together with suggested Cavit wine pairings, and select the Grand Prize Winner that day.

And the finalists are…

Jessie Grearson, Falmouth, Maine
Pesto Pizza with Feta, Fresh Tomatoes & Artichoke Hearts 

Kathi Jones-Del Monte, Rochester, NY
Shrimp Florentine Pizza 

David Levy, Rydal, PA
Triple Play/ Triple Onion & Triple Cheese Pizza 

Yvonne Buijs-Mancuso, Friday Harbor, WA
Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pizza with Goat Cheese, Pine Nuts & Caramelized Onion 

Joseph & Mary Sayers, Rye, NH
Four Cheese & Prosciutto on Whole Wheat Dough with Zesty Topping

The Cavit Gourmet Pizza Classic is a nationally advertised annual event sponsored by Cavit, the northern Italian winemaker that is the source of America’s #1 Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir wines.* For more information and complete official rules, and to view last year’s winning recipe, visit http://www.cavitcollection.com/html/make_interesting_top3.asp. The Cavit Collection is imported by Palm Bay International, Boca Raton, FL.

*Nielsen 52 weeks ending 6-30-07 Food Drug Liquor