Best wine with pizza: Pairing advice plus 15 wines to try

This wine is a fantastic take on Gamay, made from vines over 30 years old on the west side of the Willamette Valley. With a classic Beaujolais feel, it greets you with beautiful aromas of fresh red fruits like cranberries and pomegranates, bringing lively acidity to your palate. The juicy, crunchy fruit flavours, the hint of pepper, the light earthiness, and soft tannins make it a perfect ‘food-friendly’ choice. Or, if you prefer, it’s also perfectly acceptable to place this wine on your "chillable reds" shelf and enjoy a few glasses on a warm summer evening.

A surprising and refreshing Barbera from Eberle, a pioneer in Paso. Red fruits plus spice on the nose, with a bright red fruit dominance on the palate. Varietal characteristics of low tannins and high acidity make this an excellent wine to drink on its own or with a light meal. Will benefit from a slight chill.

A Côtes du Rhône that is packed full of bright plump fruit, blueberries, sweet sticky cherries, this has a really turbo-charged fruit profile. Tasty and sweet-fruited, it's fairly rich but still fresh enough for more than one glass. A medium tannic structure lends support to this tasty, loveable wine.

Made by acclaimed consultant winemaker Stefano Chioccioli, and new on the shelves at Waitrose, this is textbook Frappato, delicate, bright and fresh. Bright cherry red in colour, this is summer pudding in a glass, with aromas and a mouthwatering purity of crushed wild strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. It’s lean and elegant and a perfect summer red. Try it served ever so slightly chilled, with grilled tuna.

Antinori is one of the biggest names in Italian winemaking, with a winemaking history stretching back over 26 generations. Its Villa Antinori red is like an entry-level SuperTuscan, a blend of Sangiovese with the international grapes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It works well, with both Tuscan character and something riper and richer going on too – the deep ruby hue a hint at what is to come. Sweetly fruited on nose, there is a soft perfume of cherries, blackberries and forest fruits, with a touch of sweet spice. Its well balanced in the mouth, a lovely balance of mouthwatering acidity and fine tannins with a weight of black plum and tart sour cherry, cranberry fruit, some rosehips, a hint of cloves, and subtle toasty oak on the finish.

From Asti, a classic Barbera Superiore. The aromatics include a delicious array of dried red fruit leather, dried rose petals, bright wintergreen, and dusty gravelly notes. The palate is delightfully bright, with wild red berries, white pepper, and raspberry leaf—it's begging for pizza.

I love finding that note of fresh red apple skin with cru Beaujolais wines, and this shows it in both aroma and flavour. I also get notes of fresh raspberries as well as raspberry pip, which unfold onto a savoury note of seared meat. It's a structured wine, with a pleasing chewy texture and balls of fresh mouthwatering acidity, my mouth would be watering for some solid snacks, maybe artichoke hearts, olives or some hard salty cheese.

The Sainsbury's Italian range is always strong and this new Sicilian Nero d'Avola is a great addition – especially for under a tenner. It's a little fruit bomb, with masses of ripe black cherry, black raspberries and blackberries on the nose and palate. A touch of Syrah (10%) adds richness to the palate, but there's good balancing acidity too with partial barrique-ageing adding just enough structure for food.

There's a mish-mash of grapes in here alongside the 76% Zin, including Syrah, Barbera, Tempranillo, Malbec and Mourvèdre. It works though, fun and very fruit forward in character, with juicy ripe blueberry and red berry exuberance. It would be hard to find a wine that tastes more like cherry cola than this! It's easy drinking, dry but with sweet fruit, and would be a great pizza wine.

Lots of garrigue and undergrowth in this Carignan-led blend. The Syrah component adds tapenady savouriness while Grenache brings in juicy fruit. Blueberry, blackberry, plum and ripe cherries mingle on the palate, sprinkled with oregano, thyme and smoked paprika. Supple tannins and an appealing warmth to the finish.