Now Serving: Autumn
Your guide to pairing with the season’s produce
Seasonal eating and what to drink with it
Autumn means roots, brassicas and orchard fruits; foods that seem to taste of the earth itself. As the season progresses, our cooking shifts towards depth and warmth: roasted vegetables, slow-cooked dishes and drinks with spice, acidity or quiet richness.
But autumn doesn’t arrive all at once. Early on, there are still blackberries in the hedgerows and plenty of freshness alongside the first squash and apples; later come darker greens, parsnips, game and the ingredients we associate with colder days. It is a season of transition, and what we eat and drink changes with it.
The festive season will bring its own particular kind of indulgence. For now, we’re lingering in that rather lovely bit in between – and drinking accordingly.
Roots, leaves and vegetables in season in autumn
Parsnips, Carrots & Swede
As autumn progresses, roots begin to take over. Carrots are with us for much of the year, while swede and parsnips increasingly come into their own as the weather cools. Roast them and their natural sugars caramelise at the edges, bringing out deeper, sweeter and slightly nutty flavours.
Drink pairing:
Cider is a natural partner, with enough acidity to balance the sweetness of roasted roots – try a richer, gently spiced style as the weather gets colder. For wine lovers, a white Rhône blend or Viognier has enough body and ripe fruit to match their sweetness, while retaining enough freshness for the table.
For a non-alcoholic option, try a ginger and pear shrub topped with sparkling water. The combination of fruit, spice and acidity works particularly well with those sweet, earthy flavours.
The Brassica Moment
Kale, cavolo nero and cabbage come into their own as autumn progresses, with Brussels sprouts joining them later in the season. Their green, sometimes bitter flavours can make them slightly trickier drinking partners – particularly once you start adding butter, bacon, nuts or cheese.
Drink pairing:
A bitter aperitif spritz, alcoholic or no-lo, can complement that assertive bite while keeping things fresh. For wine lovers, a cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc echoes those green flavours, while its acidity provides a particularly useful contrast if the vegetables have been sautéed in butter.
For something softer and alcohol-free, green tea with lemon works surprisingly well: fresh and gently bitter enough not to be overwhelmed by the vegetables.
Squash & Pumpkin
Squash and pumpkins are autumn stalwarts for good reason. Roasted, blitzed into soup, folded through risotto or baked into gratins, their combination of sweetness and creamy texture calls for drinks with a little generosity of their own.
Drink pairing:
Viognier or a lightly oaked Chardonnay works beautifully, particularly with roasted squash, where ripe fruit and texture can meet its sweetness without being overwhelmed.
For something stronger, an Old Fashioned made with bourbon, maple syrup and aromatic bitters takes those caramelised, autumnal flavours in a darker direction.
And without alcohol, apple juice warmed with cinnamon, ginger and a strip of orange peel gives you much the same sense of autumnal comfort without trying to imitate a cocktail.
Fruits in season in autumn
Orchard & Woodland: Apples, Pears, Quinces & Chestnuts
Autumn is one of the great moments for British fruit. Apples and pears arrive in abundance, quince brings its extraordinary perfume, and chestnuts begin falling as the season progresses.
Some of these ingredients also become more interesting once they’re cooked. Apples collapse into pies and crumbles, pears can be poached, quince transforms with heat and sugar, and roasted chestnuts bring a creamy, nutty richness that feels inseparable from colder days.
Drink pairing:
Dry English cider or perry is the obvious place to start, particularly alongside apple and pear dishes. Off-dry Riesling or Chenin Blanc can be excellent with poached pears and baked apples, where a little residual sugar prevents the wine being flattened by the sweetness of the food.
With richer desserts, Calvados brings apple, warmth and spice to the table. Without alcohol, try a spiced apple and quince cordial or simply cloudy apple juice gently warmed with cinnamon and lemon peel.
Blackberries, Damsons & Sloes
Early autumn still has one foot in the hedgerows. Blackberries linger into the beginning of the season, damsons arrive around the same period, while sloes ripen from around late September and into autumn.
They’re also fruits particularly suited to preserving – in jams and jellies, certainly, but also in syrups, shrubs, fruit wines and liqueurs.
Drink pairing:
With a blackberry or damson pudding, look towards wines with plenty of fruit of their own: a lightly chilled, juicy red can work better than something heavily tannic. Damson gin and sloe gin naturally come into their own later in the season, although this year’s fruit won’t become this year’s bottle overnight.
Without alcohol, blackberry shrubs and damson syrups topped with sparkling water preserve that same sweet-sharp quality.
Citruses
Citrus isn’t a British autumn harvest in the way apples, pears or blackberries are, but as autumn moves towards winter, imported citrus begins to play a much bigger role in what we eat and drink. Clementines and mandarins start appearing in greater numbers, bringing exactly the sort of brightness that increasingly dark days seem to require.
Drink pairing:
Sparkling wine works particularly well with citrus-led dishes and desserts, provided they’re not too sweet. A gin and tonic with citrus peel or a bergamot and thyme spritz keeps things fragrant and fresh.
For a non-alcoholic version, use bergamot, citrus or herb cordial with soda, plenty of ice and a generous strip of peel.
Game in season in autumn
Autumn is when Britain’s game season really gets underway, although what’s available changes as the months progress. Red grouse is already in season as autumn begins, with partridge from 1 September. Pheasant and woodcock follow from 1 October, while wild duck is also in season from September. Venison is available too, although the open seasons vary according to the species and sex of the deer.
That changing availability is part of autumn’s character. By later in the season, there’s a particularly broad range to cook with – but what you pour alongside it depends very much on what’s on the plate.
Game birds: pheasant, partridge, grouse & duck
Game birds tend to bring more flavour than everyday chicken or turkey, but there’s considerable variation between them. Pheasant and partridge are relatively delicate, while grouse and wild duck can be darker, richer and distinctly more gamey.
Drink pairing:
For pheasant and partridge, Pinot Noir is a particularly versatile place to start, especially when they’re served with mushrooms or root vegetables. Chardonnay can work beautifully too, particularly with creamy sauces or roast pheasant.
With grouse or wild duck, you can afford to go darker. Northern Rhône Syrah has the pepper, savoury character and freshness to meet their stronger flavours, while a mature Rioja can work particularly well when the dish brings in autumn fruit or richer sauces.
For beer drinkers, brown and amber ales bring malt, toast and caramel notes that sit naturally beside roasted birds. Without alcohol, try roasted barley tea for a similarly toasty, savoury direction.
Venison
Venison is red meat, but it’s generally leaner than beef and its flavour can range considerably depending on the species, cut and preparation. A simply cooked loin therefore needs a different approach from a slow-cooked venison stew.
Drink pairing:
For roast or pan-seared venison, look for reds with plenty of flavour but enough freshness not to overwhelm the meat: Syrah, Cabernet Franc or a more structured Pinot Noir can all work.
With a richer stew, pie or braise, you can step up the weight. Northern Rhône-style Syrah, Rioja or Bordeaux-style blends have the structure for slow-cooked meat and darker sauces.
For something a little different, dry Madeira brings acidity alongside savoury, nutty complexity – particularly good when mushrooms or roasted roots are involved. Without alcohol, a tart blackberry or blackcurrant drink can provide the dark fruit and acidity we’d otherwise look for in wine.
Tips for pairing autumn food with drinks
Autumn food isn’t necessarily heavy food, so don’t assume everything suddenly requires a huge red wine just because you’ve put a jumper on.
Give non-alcoholic drinks the same attention: Tea, shrubs, cordials and good juices bring acidity, tannin, bitterness, sweetness and texture to the table – the same tools we use when pairing alcoholic drinks.
Match intensity: A delicate mushroom dish needs something very different from venison stew. Match the weight of the drink to the finished dish, not simply the season.
Use acidity: Roasting brings sweetness, while autumn cooking often brings butter, cream and richer sauces. Acidity in wine, cider, shrubs and other drinks keeps those flavours from becoming tiring.
Think about preparation: A raw apple, baked apple and apple crumble may begin with the same fruit, but they don’t necessarily want the same drink. Roasting, caramelising, smoking and braising all change the pairing.
Don’t forget bitterness: Autumn greens can be challenging with wine. Drinks with their own bitter or herbal character – aperitifs, some beers and teas – can sometimes make more sense.
Warm the drink, not the rulebook: Mulled and spiced drinks are lovely as the temperature drops, but autumn doesn’t mean everything needs cinnamon in it.
Love autumn? Join us in celebrating Mabon and raise a glass to the autumn equinox.
Wondering why some pairings just work? Our beginner’s guide to wine and food pairing explains what’s actually going on – so you don’t have to Google every plate.