Warming wines and hearty suppers

November is a month unmistakably heading for winter, but we can look forward to some fantastic warming meals and accompanying wines. If, in common with most of the population, much of the month is taken up by selecting thoughtful gifts for loved ones in preparation for Christmas, spare some time to enjoy some of the seasonal foods from our beautiful East Anglian countryside washed down with a fine wine.

I really look forward to the first frosted sprouts – they always taste sweeter and more delicious after a cold snap as does the humble yet glorious parsnip – the freezing process converting some of the starches into sugars and bringing out the natural sweetness. But perhaps the greatest treasure for me in this season is the gathering of chestnuts. As a young child my parents used to take me to our local woodlands to go ‘chestnuting’. I soon became a nibble nutter, with no tools required other than welly boots, a stick (locally-sourced of course from the hedgerow) for prizing apart the spiky husks and a pair of trusty gloves. I have never stopped loving the annual foray for nuts, and keep an eye out throughout the year for prospective trees to revisit before Christmas.

To accompany your hearty early-winter fare, turn to the red wines from the Rhône for generous, warm, spicy fruit-laden flavours. Pot-roasted partridge served on a parsnip mash with sprouts and chestnuts is perfect with a robust Côtes-du-Rhône or Châteauneuf-du-Pape. If you’re roasting a pheasant, then a creamy, barrel-fermented white Burgundy will give you clean, ripe melon and tropical fruit flavours with a warming seam of vanillin oak to marry with the rich flavours of the meat - opt for one of the region’s top producers such as the biodynamic winemaker Anne-Claude Leflaive, or the wines from Dominique Lafon for a truly sublime Chardonnay. These wines are hard to come by, but worth seeking out if you are a lover of top-class Burgundy.

Hot soups increase in their attractiveness as the weather gets cooler, and a hearty soup served with crusty bread demands a softly fruity wine that’s not too high in tannins. The village wines from Beaujolais are perfect with chunky broths as they are made from the Gamay grape variety, naturally low in tannins but generous in its red fruitiness, with a hint of black pepper spice. Try not to serve Beaujolais too warm – about 12 degrees centigrade is perfect.

Wrap up warmly in November, and take a walk in the woods in search of chestnuts. Pack a bottle of Beaujolais, a rug and a flask full of home-made soup for the ultimate in nutting luxury. I will be…

Sarah Groves studied wine marketing at Roseworthy College, Australia’s foremost wine institution, and is part of the wine team at Adnams in Southwold. Visit one of their Cellar & Kitchen Stores in East Anglia and Richmond (W: adnams.co.uk or
T: 01502 727222 for details).