Autumn in a glass

For October cooking

This selection is meant for mushrooms, pumpkin, game and raclette. The wines come from the Ribeira Sacra and Bierzo, from Piedmont, from Utiel-Requena and Ribera del Duero, from Savièse in Valais and from Mont Ventoux, where Domaine de la Coquillade makes its Coquillade Rouge.

Our autumn bottles

• Guímaro Mencía 2023, Ribeira Sacra: Mencía from vines around 40 years old on average, about a fifth fermented as whole bunches, six months in steel, no oak.
• Barbera d'Alba Superiore Munbèl 2023, Roero: Barbera from calcareous ground near Vezza d'Alba, a year in barrique, and at 15 percent the strongest red in this selection.
• Kaléidoscope Fendant 2024, Valais: Chasselas from Savièse, whole bunches fermented in their own juice with wild yeast, unfiltered, 11.1 percent.
• Algueira Escalada 2022, Ribeira Sacra: Godello from slate, fermented on its full lees in chestnut and French oak, then settled for seven months in steel.
• Massuria 2008, Bierzo: José Mas picked from 10 to 21 September in a vintage whose August was the coolest since 1977, and aged the wine twelve months in barriques, ten percent of them new.

What goes on the table

Mencía suits mushroom risotto and lamb, the Barbera roast beef and hearty pasta. With raclette and fondue we pour white, the Fendant or the Escalada, even when someone at the table asks for red. For venison with red cabbage and chestnuts, take Battaglino's Roero Colla 2021 or Guímaro's Finca Capeliños 2022, from vines close to 100 years old.

How warm, how cool

At a room temperature of 22 degrees, red wine tastes broad and alcoholic. Serve Mencía and Pinot Noir at 14 to 16 degrees, Barbera, Tempranillo and the Ventoux wines at 16 to 18, and Battaglino recommends 18 for the Roero Colla. Stand mature bottles such as the Massuria 2008 or the Merlot Caus Lubis 2006 from Can Ràfols dels Caus up the day before, so the deposit collects at the bottom. If a bottle comes from a heated living room, give it a quarter of an hour in the fridge before you open it.