The talk is always about matching whisky and haggis at this time of year, but for wine lovers there are plenty of wine options to pair with this peppery meaty dish.
For whites choose spicy, rich textural wines like gewurztraminer, fiano or viognier – and pick reds with bright juicy fruits, soft tannins and peppery notes like syrah, primitivo, agiorgitiko, zweigelt and gamay.
Here are my top wines under £20 for serving with your Burns night haggis, neeps and tatties.
Sicily, Italy: ‘Ciaca Bianca’ Fiano 2022 Mandrarossa
Upfront juicy apricot fruit with peachy flavours, light spice and herby notes would more than stand up to haggis’ coarse oatmeal texture and spicy offal and onion.
£10.99-£12, Aitken Wines; Luvians; Vida Wines; Fine Wine Musselburgh
Alsace, France: The Society’s Exhibition Alsace Gewurztraminer 2019
The gewurztraminer grape has such intense texture and spicy undertones – particularly good value own label example here is from Hugel’s Grand Cru Sporen vineyard.
£16, The Wine Society
McLaren Vale, Australia: Specially Selected Kooliburra Viognier Marsanne 2021
White Rhone lookalike with exotic perfumed notes of viognier and honeyed depth of marsanne with savoury saline notes.
£6.49, Aldi
Rioja, Spain: Larrosa Rioja Rosado 2021 Bodegas Izadi - Star buy
This has rich raspberry and cherry tones – with enough fruit and weight to match the mouthfeel of the haggis.
£12.50-£13, Fine Wine Musselburgh; Aitken Wines; Cornelius Wine
Languedoc, France: Chateau La Dournie 2019
If you're looking for a Rhone lookalike at a cracking price, this fruity spiceladen grenache, syrah and carignan unoaked blend is a great buy.
£10.95, The Wine Society
Veneto, Italy: Valpolicella Classico 2020 Viviani
One of the best valpolicellas I have tasted recently – so juicy, smooth, cherry-fruited with fresh vibrant palate and bitter almond twist to finish.
Made by Claudio Viviani who grow corvina and rondinella in their Mazzano vineyards in the historic classic heartland of Valpolicella.
£11.68, Justerini & Brooks
Barossa, Australia: Lionheart of the Barossa Shiraz 2019 Dandelion Vineyards
Nothing subtle about this big boned Barossa shiraz from Zar and Elena Brooks, which makes it ideal for matching with haggis.
Made partly from 100-year-old vines, it has depth, intensity alongside fine tannins, sweet fruits and peppery undertones.
£14.49, Fine Wine Musselburgh; Lockett Bros; Kirkness & Gorie; The Beerhive; Aitken Wines
Bekaa Valley, Lebanon: B-Qa de Marsyas Rouge 2017 Chateau Marsyas
Saade family’s second wine from their 55 hectare high-altitude estate in the famous Bekaa Valley.
A blend of cabernet sauvignon, mourvedre, merlot and petit verdot – it tastes like a cross between Bordeaux right bank and the Rhone with soft tannins and spicy length.
£17.25, Corney & Barrow
Nemea, Greece: Saint George Agiorgitiko 2020 Skouras - Good value
Robust Greek reds often match well with spicy food – and Agiorgitiko made by George Skouras is always beautifully made. Richness, spiciness, sweet fruit notes, soft textured with gentle oak notes – superb value too.
£11.95, The Wine Society
Puglia, Italy: I Muri Primitivo 2021 Vigneto del Salento
Inky black, jammy, juicy wild berry fruits with a bitter almond twist to the finish – this is a ‘proper’ Primitivo with great robust weight, spicy undertones and velvety mouthfeel.
£11.50, Aitken Wines; Luvians; Cornelius Wine; Margiotta; The Beerhive; WoodWinters
Rhone, France: Crozes Hermitage Rouge Esquisse 2021 Domaine des Hauts Chassis - Star buy
Favourite wine with our tasters – a sleek, succulent syrah from the southern end of Crozes Hermitage in northern Rhone. Fabulous depth of blackberry fruit, light floral hints, elegant silky tannins and notes of pepper and spice.
£19.50, Corney & Barrow
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