10 wines to fall for this autumn

From richer whites to bolder reds, our wine expert has the perfect bottle to cosy up with

Some of Aoife Carrigy's top autumn picks

Aoife Carrigy

​Richer white wines that are less about bright, crisp freshness and more about weight, warmth and comfort, and balancing the autumnal foods you might serve with them. Reds that run the gamut from lighter, brighter wines but enriched with autumnal flavours, to bolder spicier styles that channel cosy nights in. Orange wines too, that offer a bridge between whites and reds (being made with white-wine grapes but with the approach of a red wine where the grape’s juice is fermented in contact with the skins and seeds, to add flavour and tannic texture).

Thank goodness for that last burst of late summer sunshine, so that as we head into October, we can embrace all things autumnal, including the wines so suited to this season. The longer nights that send us retreating indoors, lighting that first fire or turning on the heat, embracing quiet solitude or gathering with good company, even if that’s just the company of a good book or box-set series. Embracing layers — of clothing as you pull out those soft cosy wools, but also of flavours, as we start cooking more soups and casseroles and slow-cooked hot pots. And the seasonal abundance of harvest vegetables, of earthy mushrooms in pastas and bakes, warm orange pumpkins and squash for risottos or curries, bloody beetroots and sweet blackberries to serve with roast duck or venison pie.