Joanna Simon speaks to winners of The World’s Best Wine Lists to discover the best wines to pair with fish, before adding some delicious ideas of her own.
Pairing wines with fish hardly sounds like a daring venture. But fish too can be versatile – from oily to meaty – and the complexity of a good wine-fish match is often underestimated. Could it be because compared with, say, cheese, choosing the best wines to pair with fish seems relatively undemanding?
It would be, perhaps, if we were talking only about fish and seafood served solo or prepared in the plainest of ways, but once we’ve ventured beyond oysters au naturel and pan-fried Dover sole with a few steamed potatoes and a smidgen of parsley, the chief protein is far from being the only consideration.
The assumption that wine pairings for fish are obvious probably stems from both the idea that fish and seafood are delicately flavored compared to red meat or many cheeses and from the old British adage that white wines go with fish and white meat and red wines go with red meat (and heaven help anyone who suggested deviating). Many fish are, indeed, delicate, but others are powerful in flavor and meaty in texture; some, especially crustacea and mollusks, have a sweet taste; some are salty; some are distinctively oily. And that’s before we even get to preparation, cooking methods, and accompaniments on the plate.
What are the best wines for fish?
Where, then, do you
This Article was originally published on World of Fine Wine
