Wine: What to drink with pork

I like crackling so much that I once roasted an entire pork shoulder and managed to eat all the crispy, crunchy, fatty skin in a single sitting (and with only a small amount of help from my then boyfriend). Afterwards, I felt quite full of pork fat and smelled like pig joint for about two days (could this have precipitated the break-up? It would only be fair). Still, my enthusiasm for cooking roast pork as the autumn leaves fall remains undimmed. The question, as ever, is what to drink with it? I tend to think white wine goes better with this subtle meat – it makes it taste more succulent and the marriage works particularly well if you have tart-sweet apples somewhere in the dinner, either as apple sauce on the side or pommes boulangère. A few options: the tangerine inflections of falanghina ( see my recommendations from a few weeks ago ) with a plain dish; a more herbaceous vermentino if you're roasting the pork with aniseedy fennel seeds; and if you're going for a fruity recipe, perhaps with sticky date couscous, then the candied peel, bitter orange and gentle frangipane taste of Tesco Finest Fiano 2009 (£5.99; 13% abv), from Italy, is a good move. That said, it's hard to avoid the draw of red wine on a late September evening, and I know from the experience of trying to get everyone to drink the wine that I think goes best with a meal that they'll often settle on the colour they prefer regardless. But one red that does go well with pork, particularly if you have a lovely, slow-cooked, sticky, falling-apart piece of meat, is rioja. Older wines work best, but they also cost more, so to start with a cheapie – Tesco Finest Viña Mara Rioja Reserva 2005 (£7; 13.5% abv) is a solid and convincing performer. Heading up the price scale somewhat, I thoroughly enjoyed the faded splendour of another Spanish wine, Viña Muriel Rioja Gran Reserva 1982 (£17.99, down from £24 when you buy two or more Spanish wines, Majestic ; 12.5% abv) is a feminine wine with a haunting, floral perfume. And finally there's Campillo Rioja Gran Reserva 1995 (£18.74, down from £25 when you buy two or more Spanish wines, Majestic ; 13.5% abv), which is also delicious, though a very different beast. Still in its prime, it's soft and rich and chewy in a way that reminded me of thick cigar smoke roiling around your mouth. [email protected] • Photographs: Full Stop Photography