Paula's Wines of the Week
11/09/2008
The bands of horizontal driving rain and drop in temperature are a sure sign autumn has arrived with a vengeance. So ditch the diet of cold quiche and fresh fruit, comfort food is now required. A good pork sausage and an extremely large dollop of creamy mashed potato should do the trick.
Several glasses of fruity wine will help wash it down, but what colour of wine though? Wine and food matching theory suggests matching red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat and fish. But pork is neither quite red meat or white - being pink when raw and turning white when cooked - and so it matches both red and white wines equally well.
But side-servings of onion gravy or Brown Sauce can smother a wine's delicate flavours, so look to match robust reds or fruity whites with these banger and mash extras. Try high tannin red grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec or sausage-friendly lemon tasting whites like Chardonnay, Riesling or Semillon.
Whatever your sausage meal preference, surely it deserves to be accompanied with a tasty bottle of wine?
£3.99 and under
There are still some good bottles to be found that cost the same as a couple of National Lottery tickets.
La Tour de Marrenon Côtes du Ventoux Red and La Tour de Marrenon Côtes du Ventoux White, £3.80 Tesco www.tesco.com (down from £7.60 until 9 September)
Get down to Tesco today for these half-price bargains. The blackcurrant and liquorice tasting red is a classic match for gravy soaked sausages, while those who enjoy their sausages naked will enjoy the refreshing white.
£5.99 and under
There are a few fruity, slurpable wines among the forgettable masses.
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Primitivo del Salento, £4.49 Sainsbury's www.sainsburys.com/groceries (down from £5.99 until 16 September)
This Italian blend of indigenous grape varieties packs a punch – blackcurrant and tobacco flavours will appeal to burnt sausage and Brown Sauce lovers.
Arniston Bay South African Pinotage Rosé 2008 1.5-litre pouch, £8.45 Morrisons www.morrisons.co.uk (down from £9.45 until October 5, equivalent to £4.22 a bottle), otherwise £9.79 Waitrose www.waitrosedeliver.com, Asda www.asda.co.uk
Not quite red or white, rosé wine has enough strength of flavour to match most meats and refreshing white wine qualities that help wash down a meal. Reliable Arniston Bay's Pinotage rosé is no exception – well-balanced strawberry and redcurrant flavours that combine both sharpness and sweetness. This will match almost anything.
Yellow Tail Merlot 2007, £5.99 Tesco www.tesco.com, Co-op www.cooperative.coop/food, Budgens www.budgens.co.uk
Nice and fruity, this wine tastes like plum sponge with vanilla ice cream. Very good.
Miramonte Ridge Merlot 2006, £5.99 Morrisons www.morrisons.co.uk
Another Merlot, but rather heavier on the autumnal fruit flavours: blackberry, blackcurrant and cherry give a warming mix suitable for posh sausages with over 80 per cent meat content.
Costs a bit more, but tastes great
Palo Alto Reserva 2006, £7.99 Somerfield www.somerfield.co.ukLots of black pepper and blackcurrant flavours in this Chilean red - pour a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Syrah into your glass and enjoy.
If you want to tell Paula about a bargain bottle spotted at the supermarket or off-licence then contact her via jayne.warren@maturetimes.co.uk or directly through her website link below.