The frost is on the punkin now, as the iconic American poet James Whitcomb Riley liked to say. At least it is in areas where they grow "punkins" and have frost. So it must be time for my annual "hearty red wines for cold weather" column.
It's not that we give up white wines for the season. We don't. Whites go very nicely with lighter foods, from poached fish to sushi, that we continue to eat all year, whatever the temperature.
But in cool weather there's some appealing about rich, full-bodied reds. You could call them comfort wines. And they go with the comfort foods that are popular in winter.
Comfort foods are dishes that bring consolation, make us feel good, often recalling childhood memories of mom's cooking. Often they're inexpensive. Humble. Pot roast instead of filet mignon. Mac 'n' cheese rather than lobster risotto. Mashed potatoes, not pommes de terre a la dauphinoise.
Comfort wines are the same. Wines that are generous and full-bodied, without hard, tannic edges or acidic zing. Sometimes their warmth comes from alcohol levels up to 14 or 15 percent. Often inexpensive, although some of the real powerhouses can be pricy.
They run the gamut of hearty red grapes: merlot, zinfandel, syrah, bonarda, Southern Hemisphere cabernet sauvignons.
So put on a warm robe and cuddle up with a bottle of one of these, and don't come out until the frost is gone and the punkin pie is long since eaten.
