Seafood is usually served white wines. But there are so many flavors of this wine, and there are so many types of seafood that it is no wonder confused. Seafood provides great scope for experimenting with a sunny drink. A sign of good taste is the selection of wine according to the type of product, taking into account the recipe composition of the dish.
Pick your recipe
Most sommeliers will insist on serving white dry wine to dishes from the inhabitants of the deep sea. This is because it most successfully sets off the taste of any seafood. But there may be variations. What are the requirements for a drink? It should be young and fresh, light and unsweetened, the serving temperature can vary between 9-16 degrees, without any noble pronounced flavors, including barrel flavors. That is, the wine should be thin, but neutral, without a harsh aroma and taste.
When choosing a wine, it is advisable to ask in advance what ingredients are included in the dish. Often, cooks complement lobster or shrimp with delicious sauces or hot garlic sauces. Both the first and second can level the taste characteristics of the drink served with the dish. If seafood is supplemented, for example, with curry and spicy spices, then you should refrain from choosing semi-dry and semi-sweet white. If a tomato or cheese is present in a dressing, preference can be given to deeper and more saturated white and rosé wines.
What fine wines are suitable for specific seafood?
The mollusks differ in iodine "sea" taste, they are oily and brackish, which requires white wine with a pronounced sour bouquet. So, oysters can be served French Chablis, Sancer, German dry riesling and the Australian Semillon. An almost win-win option is a dry muskade. In combination with deep seafood, it is suitable in every first case, since the grape variety is characterized by moderate natural acidity and grows only in soils located close to the sea and rich in iodine. A good option for oysters can be classic dry sparkling wines Brut Neutsche and Brut Zero. An unusual, but very successful experiment will be a dry Fino de Jerez. You should not ignore such universal wines as Chardonnay, Sauvignon and white Bordeaux.
For mussels and octopus cooked with cheese, garlic sauce and tomatoes, you can choose pink Cote de Provence. If the sauce is dominated by tomatoes and chilli, opt for the young red Cote du Rhone. Pinot Grigio, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc are best for mussels and shrimp. They are dry, with subtle notes of fruit and obvious sourness. The Greek asirtiko and Italian vermentino with bright aromas of herbs and ripe peaches “sound” good with seafood.
Crustaceans differ from relatives by sweetish white meat with a creamy taste. Boiled river crayfish will certainly open with semi-dry riesling. Sea crustaceans - shrimps, lobsters, langoustines and lobsters - will best "play" their taste with not too heavy Chardonnay wines, as well as Burgundy wines. Crabs are traditionally served with a fruity sunny drink, such as the Austrian Grüner Veltliner and the Louvre Valley Boulevard. Aristocratic white sparkling champagne brut flawless just suitable for the aristocrats of the sea - lobsters, langoustines, lobsters. Sparkling Spanish cava and champagne Blanc de Blanc will not spoil the crustaceans.
Rosé wines may well replace white chardonnay and blanc in combination with the inhabitants of the sea. They can undoubtedly be served with soups, pies, pele, risotto and seafood pasta. Red wine, such as Valpolicella or Beaujolais Villa, is also suitable for the last dish.
When compiling the menu, it is important not to go wrong with the wine. If it dominates the taste of seafood, then the food will turn into an appetizer for an alcoholic drink, that is, you will drink wine and jam. If the other extreme happens - the taste of food turns out to be much brighter than wine, then it will turn out the other way around - just eat and drink it. Professional sommeliers recommend avoiding extremes in order to fully enjoy both components of the dinner - both wine and seafood.