I know that the weather doesn’t exactly scream summer anymore, but I thought that I would write this month’s blog about wines that go particularly well with seafood. You see, everyone always assumes that when eating seafood, you should just go for something that is nice and light - mainly so that it doesn’t overpower the fish. To be fair that is not a bad way to go by any means, however today I want to go in a little bit deeper to the ideologies that surround white wine and seafood.
I generally believe (like most connoisseurs/chefs) that different types of seafood go well with completely different wines. For example, Lobster and Chardonnay to name one, perhaps Salmon and Sauvignon Blanc or Tuna and Riesling. Of course this all depends on the style of cooking that you’re doing etc but those three give you a good place to start.
Today we are going to talk about three wines from very different regions and we will pair them with a few different options so that we can cover almost all eventualities. We have a Portuguese, a Spanish and a French… sounds like the beginning of a joke. Anyway, our first wine today is:
Now this wine is a bit of an unpolished gem. What I mean by that is it’s not going to blow you away and you’re not going to scream to everyone that this is the best wine you’ve ever had. Having said that it is extremely good value being £9.99 and goes really well with shellfish. It’s got lovely citrus aromas with tropical fruits on first taste and a lovely roundness from all of the aromatic characteristics. A nice medium finish which will linger so you want another sip. The first two things that come to mind are crab and mussels, perhaps in a creamy pasta dish with a white or red sauce it honestly would go very well with either. Our next guest hails from sunny Spain:
I must admit we actually don’t have a lot of this left in stock but I just couldn’t leave it out. My father and I actually found this wine at the London Wine Fair a few years ago, we consider it our flagship Albarino that we honestly believe gives the best impression of the Rias Baixas region. The wine has a very powerful opening bursting with citrus and green apple notes, moving through we then get to taste some of the subtle floral aromas and a nice long finish will stay with you until your next sip. This is all about Ceviche and seafood Paella! I imagine you probably guessed that but to be honest it was a bit of a no brainer. I would also be tempted to put this up against some more interesting fish. Sea Bass would be a great fit as well as grilled prawns if you wanted something different. Last but always never least we have:
Domaine Thibert-Miranda Saint Veran ‘A La Cote’ 2015
This wine is in its prime right now. We first visited Domaine Jean-Paul Thibert, as it was known then, when I was 13 and as such have been tasting their wines for many years. We have been importing from our great friend Ygor Miranda for about 4 years now and I can honestly say that his Saint Veran never fails to impress me. When it is first bottled it is quite closed but gives hints of what the wine will be like in a few years. Now it’s got 5 years of really nice ageing and is perfect to drink right now. It’s beautifully linear and has fantastic minerality with great aromas of stone fruits, a great complex body with fantastic intensity and nice long finish. So we have a Chardonnay here… any guesses for the fish?? Lobster is the correct answer, also I know I said that Tuna and Riesling go well together (which they do) however I’m quite confident that you will not be disappointed by pairing this wine with it as well. I find this wine to be an all-round pleaser in the fish department to be honest!
Many thanks for reading again this month, I hope you found it worth your time 😊 and once again I hope it gave you some wine for thought.
Harry Vernau