Three sommeliers pick their wickedly good Halloween wine pairings

Forget limp toffee apples and cheap plonk. This Halloween, three wine experts conjure a fiendishly good line-up of wines to charm even the most jaded trick-or-treater, from pink fizz to ancient Madeira.

Dmytro Goncharuk, head sommelier, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Candied apples & Bugey Cerdon

For the traditional sticky-toothed thrill of a candied apple, Goncharuk prescribes a glass of Renardat-Fache Bugey Cerdon 2024 from France’s Savoie-Bugey region (£22, AG Wines). This pink, gently sparkling wine, made by the Méthode Ancestrale, is like a giggling sprite in a glass, 8% alcohol, all wild strawberries and raspberries, with enough acidity to scythe through the sugar shell and refresh the palate. Imagine a waltz between sherbet and orchard.

Pumpkin & caramel cake & aged white Port

Next, Goncharuk’s Kopke 10-Year-Old White Port (£19.50 half bottle, Hedonism), a rarity among dessert wines, sidles up to a pumpkin-and-caramel cake. Served chilled, it hums with hazelnut, orange zest and nutmeg, echoing the cake’s autumnal spice. The honeyed caramel notes knit themselves neatly into the sticky glaze, while its freshness keeps the whole affair lighter than it has any right to be.

Ruchira Neotia DipWSET, drinks presenter and writer

Reese’s peanut butter cups & fortified swagger

Reese’s, that unholy matrimony of chocolate and peanut butter, demands fortitude. Neotia calls upon fortified wines, Marsala and Madeira, to rise to the occasion.

The Cantine Pellegrino Marsala Superiore Garibaldi Secco (£12.75, Ocado, Morrisons) brings dried fruit, citrus peel and a faintly salty tang, while the Curatolo Arini Marsala Superiore Riserva 10 Year Old (£21, The Wine Society) hums with praline and toasted nuts. Madeira offers even more intrigue: Henriques & Henriques Bual 15 Year Old Madeira (£29-£33, The Wine Society, Majestic, Waitrose Cellar) is rich and nutty yet startlingly bright, cutting neatly through the Reese’s creaminess. For a gentler route, The Society’s Full Rich Madeira 3 Years Old (£17.50) delivers all the flavour with less bombast.

Haribo & Assyrtiko

Neotia’s inner child demands Haribo, and for that technicolour assault she prescribes Greek Assyrtiko, a wine as sharp and bright as the sweets themselves. Her pick, Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2022 (£12.50, Majestic), brings citrus zest and orchard fruit aplenty, while Vassaltis Assyrtiko from Santorini (£38-£44, Wadebridge Wines, Wanderlust Wine, Hedonism) adds stony minerality and tropical grace.

Fortnum’s posh chocolates & pink Champagne

For the well-heeled spook, Neotia swaps the obvious Ports for Champagne. Taittinger Nocturne Rosé (£42-£48) glimmers with berries and shortbread, making a flirtatious companion to Fortnum’s truffles. For those seeking true drama, Armand de Brignac Ace of Spades Demi-Sec (£400, Harrods, Selfridges, Hedonism) offers candied red fruit and swagger in liquid form.

Eleanor Owen, sommelier and educator

Haribo & Riesling Auslese

Those eye-watering tangfastics demand something that can stand up to the citric assault. Owen opts for an Auslese Riesling (£25–£30, widely available), rich, perfumed and electrified with acidity. It’s the adult’s answer to sour sweets: decadent but cleansing.

Toffee apples & Madeira

Her toffee apple pairing brings us back to Madeira, specifically Henriques & Henriques Bual 15 Year Old Madeira (Portugal). The apple’s fresh bite and molten toffee sweetness dovetail beautifully with Madeira’s nutty richness and sun-warmed complexity.

Red velvet cupcakes & Amarone

Finally, for the improbable yet popular Halloween red velvet cupcake, Owen prescribes a generous pour of Amarone or a southern Italian appassimento red (from around £18). The lush, semi-dried fruit and velvet tannins echo the cake’s plush texture and cocoa undertones. It’s gothic romance in liquid form.

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