I went to a fascinating tasting at the chefs' conference Identita this week of a new wine called Coevo blended from grapes from Chianti and Maremma and matched with a series of modern Italian dishes from one of the country's leading experimental chefs Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena

The producer Cecchi, one of the biggest in Tuscany, showed six other wines that showed what the character of the different blending components were and how they might age. There was a 1988 Sangiovese, Il Boschetto and a 1989 Cabernet, La Gavina, both from Castellina, both still tasting remarkably fresh, two contrasting 2007s, one Sangiovese from Castellina in Chianti and a blend of Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Merlot from Maremma called Poggio al Leone and two younger wines from Maremma, the 2008 Val di Toro and 2009 La Sughera

Clearly the wines were very different. The Chianti wines were much leaner and more structured with a higher level acidity; the Maremma wines which come from a warmer area where the grapes ripen a full two weeks earlier, much softer and fruitier. The resulting blend, Coevo, combines the two fusing the generous soft fruit typical of Maremma with the structure, backbone and freshness of Chianti. As a Chianti lover I wasn't sure I liked the new wine as much but I can see that it would be enormously appealing to those who find Chianti's dryness and acidity daunting.

And what about the pairings? Well those were fascinating though not always successful.

They kicked off with the inevitable 'spuma' (foam) of Mortadella with a crunchy square of bread, a recreation of a sandwich that Bottura remembered taking to school. It was actually delicious but far too delicate for any of the wines, I thought the Poggio al Leone performed best - as it proved to do with a number of the subsequent dishes. A glass of prosecco would have been perfect

Then a wonderful dish - a sort of leek fondue with truffles - which was lovely with the Coevo but frankly would have been gorgeous with almost anything

Next some very savoury, earthy, quite salty ravioli of cotechino and three different kinds of lentils which took the edge off the Coevo I thought but was surprisingly good with the Poggio al Leone again, a wine I had found a bit simple and fruit-driven on its own

After that, a dish of braised veal with a wonderfully intense, semi-sweet balsamic sauce and a purée of clorofilla which sounded scarily like a DIY product but which was apparently based on parsley. A very good match with the Coevo - even better, surprisingly, with the 2009 La Sughera from Maremma

And finally a rather tiresome frozen 'lollipop' of foie gras coated in hazelnuts which I tasted out of curiosity but didn't think did any of the wines any favours. It needed a sweet wine - quite possibly a port.

What was interesting about the dishes, which were more intense than traditional Italian cuisine, is that they favoured the Maremma wines and stripped most of the character out of the older wines which I'd particularly enjoyed in the tasting. Coevo itself worked best with the leek dish and the veal both of which had a marked touch of sweetness. It would, I suspect, work better with contemporary international cuisine, than a classic Chianti.

The wine is not yet available but will retail around £50 in the UK.