Wines of the week: Six bottles to brighten a dull February

As winter wears thin on us, Terry Kirby selects wines to partner with the season’s best produce, from creamy mussels to bitter blood oranges

For those of us who try to eat seasonally, February seems a bit of a rubbish time – more cabbage anyone? – and those winter casseroles are beginning to become a bit repetitive. The weather seems endlessly grey and cold, the evenings dark: not really suitable for lighter dishes or salads. And we need wines that both comfort us and pep up the palate.

Actually, if you look around there is still plenty out there in both food and wine to revive the taste buds and keep us going until the spring equinox. It’s a peak month for a lot of shellfish, such as mussels and clams, as well as brown crabs and the delicious cuttlefish and red mullet, if you have a good fishmonger. Turn the fish into a stew and serve it with a fairly full-bodied white, not too cold, such as the Lismore Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (£17.70 winepoole.co.uk £17.95 winedirect.co.uk) from the Cape in South Africa, which has both the zippy freshness associated with sauvignon blanc, but made complex and deeper with barrel ageing, giving lots of slightly spicy, smoky, richer flavours.

A good variation is a warming casserole of mussels, tomatoes, potatoes and chorizo sausage, for which you need a robust regional Spanish red such as the balsamically inflected, dark fruits and pepper Roqueta Lafou El Sender 2014 (£10.99 waitrose.com; £14.99 frazierswine.co.uk). The grenache/syrah blend, given freshness from being made in the highlands of Terra Alta in Catalonia, the wines of which are just waiting to be discovered and whose vineyards are said to have inspired some of Picasso’s first cubist paintings. And a welcome smack of sunshine in a grey month.

Among all the seasonal greens and cabbages, this also a peak season for purple sprouting broccoli, which needs a dressing of warm anchovies and/or almonds, garlic or just butter to counteract its (remember, it’s good for you…) slightly metallic bitterness. If you are having it as an asparagus-type starter or with pasta, Pugliese-style, a succulent, medium-bodied Beaujolais Villages red like the Brouilly Domaine Lathuilière Gravallon 2015 (£13.50 Corney and Barrow) works well, with the fresh, mineral quality of the wine acting as a balance.

If it’s a partner to a meat dishes, a bit weightier, but still shot through with freshness, is the sublimely elegant Tuscan Stile di Campriano Toscana 2015 (£18.20 or £16.15 as part of 12 bottle case; hhandc.co.uk), carefully aged to bring out the smooth, sweetly spiced and cherry fruit flavours of the sangiovese grape. Both warming and enlivening.

Although the game season has officially ended, you might find some pheasants still around – pot roasting is best as it keeps them moist – and there is still plenty of venison, often overlooked as an alternative to other red meats for grilling as steaks or a casseroles or pie fillings. And healthier as well. For both, the Stile di Campriano would be excellent as would a good, reliable claret such as the Vieux Chateau Guibeau 2015 St Emilion (£14.99 laithwaites.co.uk). From a village near St Emilion, actually, but don’t let that stop you enjoying the plummy, brambly merlot-dominated blend, although it will age well if you can resist. Terrific value for an area not known for its cheapness.

Fresh fruit is not much in evidence now, but oranges from Spain are abundant, including the unfortunately short season of blood oranges. End your February seasonal meal by eating them sliced, chilled and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, or make into a sorbet. You should drink one of the more full-bodied, darker dessert wines such as the 5 Year Old Finest Medium Rich Madeira (£14 marksandspencer.com), packed with intense dried fruit flavours. It is a worthwhile investment because madeira lasts a long time once the bottle has been opened and has many uses: you can drizzle it over the sliced oranges or use for deglazing a pan for a simple jus for duck or that venison. So, maybe February doesn’t seem so bad after all…