Autumn is here with the darker nights and misty mornings, and so our menus started to change: warming soups and casseroles, roasted veg, pies and stews, risottos and pasta. Yum!
A good warming red wine is ideal for all these, and we have chosen some of our favourites here:
For stews with a rich, thick sauce, you can try a big, bold red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux, or Shiraz. For tomato-based stews, you can try a red wine with balanced acidity, like a Zinfandel or Pinotage. With beef stew braised in red wine, try a red Burgundy or Pinot Noir- and use the same wine in the cooking too.
Spicier dishes can take sweeter wines, like Australian Shiraz, a Spanish Tempranillo – or a Portuguese red. Of course, we often advise a sweet white wine for oriental spice.
Earthy and sweet root vegetables go well with oaked Chardonnay, or a richer Pinot Gris/Grigio, Viognier
Green vegetables are better with a white wine with crisp acidity, like Sauvignon Blanc, Chablis, dry Riesling, or Grüner Veltliner. You can also try a red wine, like Cabernet Franc or Côtes du Rhône.
If you are serving roasted root vegetable, pair with a rich and round white wine, like Chenin Blanc, but Merlot, with its smooth tannins and notes of blackberry and plum that complement the caramelized flavours of the vegetables.
Puddings certainly make a come back in the Autumn: apple pie and custard, cinnamon bread and butter pudding, ginger parkin, etc etc. Sweet wines (Pudding wines) go really well, but so do the softer more rounded white wines such a Viognier and Riesling. Even a Chenin Blanc – and sparkling which goes with pretty much anything!
Take a look at a few of our picks
