Prawn tagliolini and Poggio San Polo Rosso di Montalcino

If there’s one thing you might think you could be sure of it would be that you should drink white wine with a seafood pasta dish like this. But, you know what? It was this silkily delicious red that went swimmingly.

I bought a couple of bottles of the 2014 vintage after I’d visited San Polo in Montalcino earlier this year - thinking a fresh-tasting Italian sangiovese would be just what I’d feel like drinking in summer. Friends had invited me round to sample their newly acquired skill of making fresh pasta so we had it with a great plate of homemade tagliolini with prawns (shrimp) and chilli which, despite the chilli, was quite a delicate dish.

They weren't inclined to think a red would work - and it wasn’t the sort of red that normally appeals to them but, of course, it leapt into life with the food and they absolutely loved it.

I’m not saying a fresh-tasting Italian white like a vermentino wouldn’t have worked too but it’s a predictable match and sometimes it’s fun to push the envelope. (And impress your friends ;-)

If you want to try the combination yourself you can get from slurp.co.uk for £16.99 a bottle and from Richard Granger for £18.72.