Our favourite Autumnal food & wine pairings
Autumn is well and truly in full swing; the days are getting shorter and the last couple of weeks have brought a noticeable chill to the air. This change of season is the perfect time to change up the wines you are drinking and try something new.
We have put together some of our favourite autumn wines, perfect for the cooler evenings and even better when enjoyed in front of the roaring fire. Think a rich, unctuous Viognier from the Perth Hills or a full-bodied Chardonnay from Margaret River. Maybe a bright Tasmanian Pinot Noir or a bold Frankland River Shiraz might be more your style? Whatever you decide, get cosy and shop our favourites below.
We have also paired each wine with some delicious, seasonal dishes to keep the impending chill at bay. These are the bottles to crack open when your dinner is bubbling away in your slow cooker, there's a chicken pie browning in the oven or you're tucking into your favourite pasta. And don't forget that it's nearly mushroom and truffle season too - the ideal match for light- to medium-bodied reds like Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo!
Read on for our favourite autumnal wine and food pairings.
Sandy Bay Estate 2022 Riesling
Light-medium yellow, bright, with a savoury bouquet, nutty, pencil-shavings aspects suggest some barrel work. There's attractive lemon-pith, peppery fruit as well. Soft, open-knit and fuller style of palate, which has a faint tickle of mid-palate sweetness then is dry and balanced to finish.
- 91 Points, The Real Review 2023
Deep Woods Estate 2021 Single Vineyard Chardonnay
Fantastic aromas of sliced cooked lemons and apple with flint, crushed stone, nutmeg and spiced pear. Medium to full body. Crisp acidity. Razor sharp. Oyster shells. Steely undertones. Tangy acidity.
- 96 Points, James Suckling 2022
This is a concentrated Chardonnay with a taut, elegant acidity making it a delicious pairing with hearty autumnal foods such as pulled pork, mushroom risotto, or roast chicken.
Evans & Tate 2019 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay
Wild ferment, MLF blocked, matured for 10 months in barrel and a further 6 months in tank on lees. A reliably brilliant wine, this year is no exception. Classy fruit collides with toasty oak, all of it punctuated by bright acidity and fine texture. Super-smart +
- 95 Points, Halliday Wine Companion 2023
Oak ageing and time spent on lees gives body to white wines, as well as savoury flavours, and this 2019 Chardonnay has these characters in spades. Time in bottle has lent a creamy, nutty and rich palate making it the perfect match for earthy, savoury autumnal food. Try a chicken and leek pot pie with a glass of this Redbrook Estate wine for a truly heavenly pairing.
Millbrook Winery 2022 Estate Viognier
This really is an exceptional example of this most distinctive variety. Lifted florals on the nose with traces of apricot and ginger making quite a statement that this is Viognier. Love the hints of orange blossom and fresh cream on the palate. It's a wine of control and poise.
- 95 Points, Ray Jordan Wine Guide 2024
Viognier is the perfect match for autumnal root vegetables or warming stews – and don't forget a baked brie or camembert! Offering unctuous marmalade and rich savoury characters, this Estate wine is also a treat to enjoy without food too.
Strelley Farm Estate 2023 Pinot Noir
This bright, silky Pinot Noir is the ideal accompaniment to game meat dishes, such as rabbit and venison. Or, for the ultimate decadent experience pair this wine with Tasmanian truffle risotto.
Smithbrook 2020 Single Vineyard Nebbiolo
Excellent quality, excellent value. This is a nebbiolo worth tracking down. It tastes of black licorice and red cherries, menthol and tobacco, and while it's dry and tannic to close it's juicy and moreish through the palate. You could ask for little more.
- 94 Points, Halliday Wine Companion 2024
Nebbiolo is a food wine in every way – it is light and terroir focused in the flavour department, but heavy on tannin for full-bodied structure. The original and most famous home of Nebbiolo is Northen Italy so it makes sense that any tomato-based red sauce dish is ready to serve with Nebbiolo: think Ragù, Bolognese, Amatriciana, Marinara, Puttanesca or Arrabiata.
Deep Woods Estate 2022 Shiraz et al
This exceptional blend of Shiraz, Malbec and Tempranillo has been a winner for Deep Woods from the outset, consistently delivering a wine that punches so far above its weight. I’ve aways thought the perfumed lift and sweet fruit of the palate from the Tempranillo is the key to it. Another cracker demanding to be drunk. Combines power and elegance.
- 94 Points, Best Value Red, Ray Jordan Top 100 Reds 2023
Robust and warming, this Margaret River Shiraz blend is best suited to the heavier foods that match the cooler conditions outside your window. Try a hearty slow cooked Osso Bucco or Chicken Cacciatore and a enjoy a delicious, cosy evening in.
Dalwhinnie 2022 LDR Shiraz
A new bottling introduced by Julian Langworthy as a modern, bright, approachable expression of Dalwhinnie Shiraz. Showing the influence of the cooler vintage, more whole bunches in fermentation, maturation in older oak and earlier bottling, it’s a ravishing young wine, plush purple in colour, full of spicy lifted black fruit, and just enough tight tannin to hold the exuberant berries in check on the tongue.
- Max Allen, Australian Financial Review 2024
This is a beautiful, supple and charming wine with exotic spice and mountain herbs. Try a traditional roast lamb with gravy for the ultimate autumn treat.
Shop all our favourite autumnal wines here.
