Choosing the Best Wine for Fish

© by Sheral Schowe

There is nothing more festive than sparkling wine, particularly champagne, to celebrate an occasion. Sparkling wine can complement the entire meal, from the seafood starters, to the main course, to the dessert. It is a classic with raw oysters. For seafood with rich creamy sauces or spicy Oriental dishes, sparkling wines are an excellent, no-fail choice. In fact, when the ingredients are so complex that your wine selection is a puzzle, champagne is the answer.

Sauvignon blanc is lighter in body, crisp tasting, with flavors of fresh herbs, green grass, and citrus. Try this wine with fresh, simply prepared or cold seafood. Prawn, oysters, clams, mussels, and light fish with a simple wine sauce and fresh herbs would all be delicious with sauvignon blanc.
           

Chardonnayhas a rich, almost buttery taste. The best match would be a seafood dish with a warm, rich, buttery or creamy sauce. Pairing similar flavor characteristics of food and wine make excellent combinations. The best choices in fish for this varietal would be lobster, crab, tuna, swordfish, or shark. Other light fish can also pair well with chardonnay, if the sauce is rich enough.

White zinfandel has its fans in any gathering. But there is a great place for this wine with fish. The fruity sweet flavor is a terrific balance to Cajun and other spicy preparations. It is also good with barbecue sauce and other tomato-based sauces.

Try grilled salmon with a barbecue teriyaki glaze or Cajun shrimp with the fruity, pink wines. German Riesling is light, slightly sweet, with crisp, racy acidity. It is perfect with scallops, clams, pollock, grilled shrimp, calamari, trout, or baked oysters.

Red wines also have their place with fish, as long as they are light to medium bodied, low on the tannins, and are served with the meatier fishes, such as sturgeon, tuna, shark, and swordfish. The best choices are Beaujolais, pinot noir, and merlot.

The old adage of white wine with fish and red wine with meat is a good rule to live by, but there are some notable exceptions. If you keep in mind the principles of complementing and contrasting flavors, you'll have a winning combination every time.

But, regardless of this advice, or anyone elses, the first rule of food and wine pairing is always to drink what you like, no matter what.