Big autumn cooking calls for big wines that hold their own

It’s not only sherry; I want something different from white and red wines. If spring and summer are all about citrussy, bright whites and light, crunchy, sappy reds, vivid with fresh berries and currant flavours, autumn wines of both colours tend towards the mellow and hazy. These wines taste of the orchard at the end of harvest, of apples and quince, or blackberries and mushrooms, and the mingling scents of earth and wisps of bonfire smoke. We need wines of volume and substance to stand up to bigger food and see off the incipient chill.

I often find myself reaching for the soft-focus stone fruit of white wines from France’s Rhône Valley, or wines made in a similar style from the same grape varieties (viognier, marsanne, roussanne) in Australia or Chile. I’m drawn to skin-contact (aka orange) wines, which bring grippy textures and dried-fruit flavours in a palette like falling leaves; and oak, when it’s used to make the richer style of chardonnay, white rioja or chenin blanc. The third of those, from South Africa or the Loire, with its apple-store scents, is perhaps the quintessential autumnal white, whether dry and rich for roast chicken or a sweet, sticky wine that tastes like (and pairs with) tarte tatin.

The Rhône and its grape varieties (syrah and grenache, usually in tandem) are also the source or inspiration of many of my favourite autumnal reds: wines of hedgerow berry, pepperiness and smoke that are the best match for sausages. Pinot noir is softer, lighter; at its best, whether in Burgundy or Germany, New Zealand or Tasmania, it has a distinctive forest-floor scent and silky texture that recalls and matches wild mushrooms. From Piedmont, north-west Italy, comes perhaps the most divine autumnal combination of all: the ethereal fragrance and textural rasp of the nebbiolo wines of Barolo and Barbaresco and a plate of tajarin pasta with liberal shavings of the region’s seasonal truffles. Let the nights draw in.

EH Booth & Co Barolo, Italy 2020 (£22, Booths)

Like its French equivalent red burgundy, it’s hard to find decent barolo under £30 these days. All the more credit for Booths in securing this beautifully refined example, with macerated cherry segueing into subtly savoury spice.

Sánchez Romate Maribel A Blend of Amontillado Medium Dry Sherry, Jerez, Spain NV (£11.95, thewinesociety.com)

Richly nutty, with a slightly roasted quality, a touch of brown sugar and a chestnut paste sweetness alongside yeasty rye sourdough bread… This is a bargain autumnal sipping sherry of real complexity.

Chassaux et Fils, Côtes du Rhône 2023 (£5.29, Aldi)

One of the best-value red wines on the high street, this staple of the Aldi range is ideal for lifting the mood and elevating an autumnal midweek bangers and mash. Robust with brambly fruit seasoned with white pepper.

Clos de la Vierge, Jurançon, France 2023 (£19, laithwaites.co.uk)

From the foothills of the French Pyrenees, this utterly delicious distinctive dry white from the local gros manseng grape variety has the crystalised quince lusciousness of a sweet wine coupled with a steely swish of acidity.

Bonny Doon Le Cigare Orange, Central Coast, California, USA 2023 (£15.25, Tesco)

From one of California’s best Rhône-inspired producers, this grenache blanc-led blend of four white grapes gets two weeks’ skin contact to make for a roast pork-ready combination of green tea tannins and dried apricot, herbs and mandarins.

Kaapzicht Bush Vine Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2023 (£15, Waitrose)

Rich, dry, barrel-fermented chenin blanc made from old vines is probably South Africa’s greatest gift to the wine world, and this is a textbook example: weighty with honeyed pear and ripe golden apple balanced with a flash of fresh acidity.