If a nip in the air and autumn vibes are providing fresh momentum for wine and food pairings, chances are you’re looking for recipes to cosy up with, or share with friends.

And one of the easiest ways to find fresh inspiration is to read about other people’s favourite wines, what they love to seek and savour, and how the right bottle can make or break a meal – especially if it makes you want to throw a supper party.

“Having ‘girl’ in my name now, a decade on, now that I’m a mum is slightly entertaining,” quips Charlotte Kristensen, wine columnist, wine educator and author, who set up her Instagram account @thelondonwinegirl in 2018.

“I set up the blog when I first started my journey in wine, when I turned 30… I set it up for fun, an Instagram blog just to document my learnings when I began studying with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET).

“I’ve always loved sharing wines that I’ve enjoyed, or pairings that I like, or trips that I’ve done to wine regions,” says the 38-year-old with more than 23,000 followers on social media.

Following on from her debut book, Wine: Taste Pair Pour, today she’s released her second book, Wine & Dine at Home which is all about sharing delicious wines and recipes with friends, and curating wine experiences to enjoy at home.

Here, Kristensen shares four autumnal wine and food pairings to kick-off your supper club…

Viognier

“I think viognier is a lovely option for autumn because it has some weight, it has some texture, it also brings in some riper stone fruit aromas and flavours,” highlights Kristensen.

“It’s often got a lovely sort of aromatic lift to it, and I like leaning into quite rich dishes to go with it.

“And I love the chicken and pumpkin pie… it’s a very cute recipe I’ve developed over the years, and love serving it in these little individual ramekin dishes.”

“I think that’s really fun for autumnal hosting and hosting generally, and there’s a really lovely synergy in the weight that you get in the wine, and also in the sort of richness of the filling.

“It’s cosy, it’s warm, it’s homely. It’s exactly what I like to to cook during autumn,” adds Kristensen.

For the benchmark, classic style of viognier, she suggests heading to the Rhône Valley in France, and then for more premium versions, special appellations such as Condrieu in the northern Rhône.

Otherwise, if you’re looking further afield, she says there are lots of excellent examples from Australia in the supermarkets at great prices, “and some fantastic premium versions from California too.”

Chenin blanc

“So chenin blanc sometimes doesn’t quite get the attention I think it deserves,” notes Kristensen.

“But I think it really comes into its own in the autumn because you can choose styles that have a little bit of richness and depth to them, and they really sing with autumnal, cosy types of food… so chenin blanc can be made in lots of different styles.”

“You can get quite easy-drinking pub styles, I describe them as, which are quite generic and easy going.

“But as soon as you start spending a couple more pounds; or looking at examples from particular wine regions like South Africa and the Loire, you can get some really concentrated and delicious examples.

“And one of the things I love with these richer styles of chenin blanc is they can have these lovely sort of honeyed notes, lovely floral notes as well, and they can have quite a bit of texture, and that makes them a lovely match for autumn.”

Moreover, she says specifically with honey and miso pork belly. “The recipe has some honey and dark brown sugar in it, so it really brings out some of those lovely floral and and ripe and honey notes in the wine as well…. there’s a lovely sort of echo in flavours across the wine and the dish.

“And chenin blanc naturally has quite good acidity in it, especially quality examples you can find in the Loire and South Africa, and that’s exactly what this this rich dish needs – a little bit of lift coming through from the chenin,” suggests Kristensen.

Nebbiolo

“I’m a huge fan of nebbiolo,” enthuses the wine lover, and says this pairing is all about “terroir matching, what grows together, goes together.

“Nebbiolo is from northern Italy, and that’s where we also find a lot of amazing truffles – autumn is truffle season, and this pairing leans into those gorgeous sort of umami notes.”

She continues. “Nebbiolo is a delicious grape, and the grape behind some of the most fantastic wines – Barolo and Barbaresco, and it balances quite a few different characteristics that make it very alluring.

“It’s very perfumed. It can also be quite savoury. It can combine lots of different interesting notes, like rose petals, but also has like a tar edge.

“So I always envisage it sort of like a rose, but with a sword around it. It has these two different sides, which makes it quite exciting.

She says it’s also really high in acidity, which makes it a really great food wine. “Acidity is brilliant for helping cut through richer dishes. So I love it with truffle tagliatelle, which uses a combination of dried porcini mushrooms to really bring that depth of flavour.”

“And then the idea is to use mixed mushrooms like chanterelles, chestnuts, to add a few different mushroomy flavours and textures as well.”

Moreover, she says her recipe is done quite simply using pecorino grated, as opposed to having a rich sauce, ” I think that makes it a rich dish, yet not overly.

“I love the kind of parallels and earthy notes you get in the wine and the dish… something really delicious that represents everything going on in northern Italy.”

Syrah

“Syrah is definitely one of those grapes I think naturally leans into autumn and winter – I always see it as quite a dark and brooding style of red wine.

“Syrah is what they call it traditionally in France, whereas in Australia they call it shiraz which stylistically is normally a little bit more ripe, might be oaked and a little more of a jammy personality.”

Personally, Kristensen says she loves the northern Rhône styles “because they have this pepperiness, kind of smokiness and this depth.”

Referencing syrah with smoky short rib, she says the pairing “is all about mirroring those flavours… so we have this kind of smoky, delicious, succulent and rich short rib recipe, and it’s just meant to be really cosy.”

“And the wine is just meant to lean in and complement that kind of rich, warming kind of feel.”

With lovely photography, and 50 pairings of wine and food to choose from…

“For each of the recipes, I give a second or third option of different wines that are similar; or something else to think about, which I think is quite fun,” adds Kristensen.