But you don't always want to eat red meat in winter. How about a lemony roast chicken? Pasta with a creamy seafood sauce? Cheese fondue?
When you find yourself scratching your head in the bottle shop in front of the shiraz selection this week, live a little - try a winter white instead.
By "winter white", I mean something voluptuous, almost creamy. A rich mouthful instead of a tangy young lunch wine. Think hints of butterscotch rather than acid. What you're after here is a rounded taste, an aromatic drop. It will probably be one of the more alcoholic white wines - you're basically after the exact opposite of those light, summer lunch styles you quaff easily in the sun.
Let's begin with the much-maligned chardonnay. Forget the fruit salad styles and try to steer clear of the aggressively oaked monstrosities. For a better chance of getting a bottle with a touch more depth, ask for a chardonnay hailing from a colder climate. Better yet, pick up a bottle with a few years of age under its belt for some biscuity vanilla tones. Even two years will make a difference, but five is better. It's more likely to have softened into something toasty, as the nectar slowly melds with the wood flavours from the oak barrels.
Give a Yarra Valley chardonnay a go, try the Rosemount Orange Vineyard (about $20) or, for a treat, track down a Savaterre from Victoria's Beechworth region for about $50.
When you're after an opulent white but want an alternative to chardonnay, there's always marsanne and roussanne. If chardonnays are Commodores, then roussannes are the Peugeots of your bottle shop shelf. They're nowhere near as common as a chardonnay and should earn you some serious respect with your friends. Roussannes are sophisticated, lush and complex with honeyed, mineral flavours and a heady aroma. Look for a Mitchelton Viognier Roussanne ($25) - it's buttery with a spicy backbone.
Marsanne turns into something wonderful and honeyed with a bit of age, so if you're lucky enough to stumble across a 10-year old bottle, don't miss the chance to try it. Chateau Tahbilk is one of the best producers in this country, and I urge you to buy some to hide away for 10 years. They cost only about $12 and they'll evolve, like alchemy, into something wonderful and luscious in a deep golden hue. Don't even be tempted to open them before seven or eight years - they'll taste flat and of nothing. One wet winter's night next decade you'll be glad you waited.
If you can't lay your hands on an aged wine, or if these are sounding a bit too rich for your tastes, search out a pinot gris or pinot grigio. It's a more understated choice, is ready to drink now and suits a wide range of food. Victoria's Mornington Peninsula produces some polished, pear-like flavours, or try one of the slender bottles from Alsace for a touch of elegant decay and stoniness: these are a perfect match for roast pork.
While we're in the neighbourhood, look out for an Alsatian gewürztraminer; it's a world away from the citrussy gewürz you might have tried in the Hunter Valley. It will be spicy and smell like roses and is a perfect match with a cheese and onion tart. Once you give that combination a go, you won't hanker after beef casseroles and red wines for a while.
For the ultimate winter white wine treat try an unctuous glass of muscat, glowing gold in the firelight, alongside a plate of gooey cheese and dried figs. Which brings me to this plea: don't serve any of these winter whites too cold - you don't want to miss out on the heady aromas and you're trying to keep cozy after all. What we're after is a drink to put warmth into the bones and the heart. Summer can wait.
Over to you: what wine and food combinations have you enjoyed this winter? Which white wines are warming you up right now?
This post originally appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald.
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