No great surprises in the result of our latest poll: Italian red came out top with 50% of the vote.

Why? Because the majority of inexpensive Italian reds are not too high in alcohol and also have the acidity that works so well with cooked tomato and cheese. I personally enjoy Chianti Classico with pizza but you could equally well drink something like a Barbera, a Valpolicella or a Rosso di Montalcino or even a modern Italian red from southern Italy or Sicily.

Second in the poll, I was pleased to see, with 25% of the vote, was beer. Probably you were thinking of something like Peroni Nastro Azzurro but I quite like something with a bit more flavour - a Czech lager like Budweiser Budvar for example or, with spicy pepperoni toppings, even a Viennese-style lager like Brooklyn.

Third, with 14%, came ‘other (i.e. non-Italian) red wine’ which is logical enough. Again I’d choose a fresh-tasting, medium bodied red like a Merlot, a Syrah or a Zinfandel which is similar to (some say related to) southern Italy’s Primitivo. Inexpensive Rioja and southern French blends of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre and Italian varietals like Sangioveses also work well.

Finally, only 11% voted for white wine but there are occasions when I think a white works better with pizza than a red. Examples include goats’ cheese and spinach pizza, pizzas topped with prawns or other seafood, pizza bianco (without tomato) or pizzas topped with fresh ingredients such as parma ham and rocket. A crisp dry Italian white such as Pinot Grigio or the inexpensive Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi hits the spot perfectly here.