Pairing Wine with Fish & Seafood

What type of wine best complements salmon? If you’re serving shrimp, what kind of wine would be perfect to serve with it? Here are Lisa’s recommendations for the best wine and seafood pairings for a lovely meal.

Bubbly

Dry Sparkling, Champagne, Prosecco, Cava pairs well with…

• Oysters
• Seafood Tempura
• Fried fish! 
• Baked scallops
• Bouillabaisse

White Wine

Bone Dry White Wine

Chablis pairs well with…

• Oysters & seafood
• Scallops & seafood ceviche

Dry White Wine

Pinot Blanc pairs well with…

• Buttery fish: swordfish steaks, flounder, walleye, snapper, raw clams, oysters
• Fatty fish: striped bass, catfish, lobster, mussels
• Shrimp & feta salad

What to pair with Lobster…

• Vintage Champagne, especially Blanc de Blanc
• Sparkling Rosé, made in the traditional Champenoise method
• Unoaked Chardonnay 
• Chablis
• Soave Classico, Italian
• Grüner Veltiner
• Vinho Verde

Pinot Grigio /Pinot Gris pairs well with…

• Delicate and mild-flavored fishes, lean and flaky mild fish to medium textured fish: whitefish, sole, perch, and tilapia

More Robust White Wines

Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris (with a little residual sugar) pair well with…

• Ocean dwellers such as seabass, haddock, cod and haddock. Bigger flakes means more robust texture which lend themselves to richer sauces, spices and strong flavored herbs. Great with fish tacos. Zingy Vietnamese seafood dishes. Seared Scallops.

Albariño or Gruner Veltiner pair well with…

• Meatier fish like tuna, salmon, monkfish, swordfish. As well as shellfish: clams, mussels, scallops, crab and lobster. Scallop ceviche.

Unoaked Chardonnay pairs well with…

• Striped Bass, crab cakes, raw oysters, lobster

Oaked Chardonnay or Viognier pair well with…

• More robust flavored fish: herring, mackerel. sardines, anchovies 

Sauvignon Blanc from herbaceous styles from the Loire Valley, New Zealand or Chile and also Blanc de Blanc pairs well with…

• Light Japanese tempura 
• Classic fish and chips
• Recipes using herbs such as dill, tarragon, parsley, chives, marjoram and lemongrass 
• Shrimp, if it cooked with such herbs
• Bouillabaisse

Off-dry whites with spicy or topical flavors…

• Shrimp

Dry Rose pairs well with… (Portugal Vinho Verde, Rose – Provence, red Gamay

• More robust flavored fish 
• Oily fish like: mackerel, herring and sardines that carry intense flavors from the sea

For roasty, savory or pungent flavored shrimp dishes

• Bouillabaisse

Red Wine

Pinot Noir, Gamay, Sangiovese, Grenache and Burgundy pairs well with…

• Tuna and salmon sushi.
• Swordfish
• Marlin
• Clam sauce
• Octopus stewed in tomato sauce
• Tandoor – grilled monkfish as well as Caribbean and Thai curries.
• Teriyaki Fish

New World Pinot Noir & Rose pair well with…

• Seared tuna and all kinds of salmon dishes; even a fruity sparkling Rosé can stand up to barbecued Salmon.

*Don’t combine reds with spicy seafood because you might get a nasty metallic taste.

Iberian wines: Alvarinho, Albariño, Verdejo, Txakoli pair well with…

• Fresh Tapas

Bardolino pairs well with…

• Anchovies on Pizza 

Sherry

Dry fino sherry pairs well with…

• Shrimp cocktail