How to Pick the Right Wine for Wednesday Night Supper

How to Pick the Right Wine for Wednesday Night Supper

Wine isn’t just a special-occasion drink any more. With the possible exception of breakfast, it’s a civilized accompaniment to more or less any meal you fancy, and the midweek couple of glasses are ever more popular.

For school nights, I’d suggest finding wine styles that will go with several dishes. That way, if you only drink a couple of glasses on one night, you’ve still got something left for the next day.

Chardonnay, for instance, is a wonderfully versatile white. If it’s not too heavily oaked, it’ll go with fish, chicken, pork and most pasta dishes. The same goes for other fleshy whites such as Pinot Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc, on the other hand, might be a good match with fish, salad and some oriental cuisines, but because it’s lighter and more aromatic, it can struggle with white meats. Likewise Pinot Grigio.

For reds, mid-weight wines like Pinot Noir and Rioja can work with everything from pasta to meaty fish, pork chops and even chilli. I recommend these organic and vegan wines from https://veowines.co.uk if you want something healthy. The same goes for young, unambitious Bordeaux. But open a big Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz and, unless you drink it all in one sitting, it could be hanging around for a while. (I’m assuming here that you don’t eat steak five nights a week!)

Because midweek food rarely takes more than half an hour to prepare, adjust your wine budget accordingly. Really cheap stuff might actually detract from your meal, but there’s no point spending more than you have to. Chile, Argentina and Portugal are good sources of decent, value-for-money reds; Australia and South Africa for whites.

A good addition to the midweek kitchen is bag-in-box wine. It might not look pretty, but a three-litre box is usually cheaper than four bottles, you can have as much or as little as you want at a time, and the wine will stay fresh for several weeks.