With its early nights and damp, grey days November is one of my least favourite months but at least there is great produce to lighten the gloom, which Gordon Ramsay has taken full advantage of in his recipes in The Times today.

Here’s what I would pair with them:

Wild mushroom and goats’ cheese lasagna
It’s such a reflex reaction to think of Sauvignon Blanc with goats cheese that it’s sometimes hard to get beyond that but I don’t think it’s the right wine for this dish which contains madeira and a light eggy moussaka-like topping. These elements pull in slightly different directions. Normally with a madeira-based sauce I’d be thinking of a reasonably robust red but the topping and goats cheese will keep the dish light. I’d suggest either a creamy Chardonnay (more citrus than tropical fruit with minimal oak influence) or a fruity Pinot Noir such as an inexpensive red burgundy or a Marlborough or Martinborough Pinot from New Zealand

Pheasant with braised red cabbage and apple
Another dish with contrasting elements but for me red cabbage always wins out as the dominant flavour in a dish. Gordon’s version includes a significant amount of brown sugar, red wine vinegar and red wine and a touch of star anise which is going to make it particularly punchy (ignore the apple element when you’re thinking about this pairing) I wouldn’t normally go for it with game but I fancy an Australian shiraz with this or, sticking to Pinot Noir, a powerful Pinot from New Zealand’s Central Otago region.

Baked Coxes with Somerset Pomona and Clotted Cream
Coxes should in theory have more flavour than cooking apples like Bramleys but the dominant flavours in this dish are going to be the stuffing ingredients - dates, cherries, nuts and orange zest, the honey and the Pomona - a mixture of cider and cider brandy. I’d be tempted to drink that with it too, not least to finish up the bottle but a Spanish Moscatel de Valencia or, slightly more extravagantly, a Hungarian Tokaji would also work well.