Sea Food Online

How to perfectly pair wine, seafood dishes

By Michael Gianunzio
Special to The Herald
Wine and seafood trigger unique memories for me. The first time I ever tried Copper River salmon was the same day I was hit by a foul ball at Safeco Field.

I was sure I could catch that baseball as it shot at me, just like the fishmongers at the Pike Place Market caught my fillet. That evening the throbbing in the black and blue spot on my right hip was relieved with barbecued salmon and lots of chardonnay.

Is there any better medicine than a full-bodied Chardonnay?

There are few greater pleasures than matching up cuisine such as seafood with the perfect wine.

First, let's dispel the myth that white wine must be drunk with fish and red wine with red meat. A light red wine goes very well with a dense, meaty fish like tuna, salmon or swordfish. Chilled a bit to reduce the effect of tannins, which can make fish taste metallic, fruity red wines, such as gamay (Beaujolais) or a dolcetto from the Piedmont region of Italy are great partners for fish.

White fish, which is usually light in texture, needs to be matched with delicate white wines, like a Washington sauvignon blanc or a pinot gris from Oregon — pinot grigio in Italy.

A big oakey chardonnay can destroy a delicate white fish or shellfish. But a big slab of grilled king salmon will cry out for a Washington chardonnay or an Oregon pinot noir.

There are many traditional seafood and wine combinations — chardonnay and lobster, chablis and oysters, riesling and just about anything from the ocean.

The real test is matching wine flavors with the flavors in the food being served — the whole dish, not just the underlying seafood. And sometimes it is the food that makes a wine taste better, not the other way around.

Consider the sauce that is covering your swordfish. Compliment the sauce with the wine, not the fish swimming in it. Creamy sauces will like white wines every time.

Matching wine styles with food first requires a good physical and emotional bond, like in a good marriage. Heavy foods go well with full-bodied wines. Complex and intense flavors served in Asian dishes, for example, need flavor-intensive wines, such as a German riesling or an alsace gewurztraminer, both aromatic white wines. Fatty or oily dishes need wines with lots of acidity to cut through the oiliness and bring out the best flavors.

Smoked salmon needs a white sauvignon blanc. Pair scallops in a heavy cream sauce with a chablis.

If you cook seafood with chili peppers, you're on your own. Just get a cheap white wine and go for it!

Salty seafood, like all salty dishes, will neutralize the acid in wine. So, choose a white wine high in acidity with a salty dish.

One of my colleagues salts everything she eats, carrying a shaker wherever she goes. She needs to carry with her a zingy white wine from France's Loire Valley, such as a chenin blanc or a pinot grigio from Italy. These wines will make the underlying fish flavors rise to the top — and lower her blood pressure at the same time.

Dishes that are rich and dense, like seafood risotto, need a big opulent chardonnay, a great marriage of texture and flavors. Spicy dishes deserve a wine to refresh the palate.

Chinese and Eastern dishes loaded with spice need aromatic white wines, like a sauvignon blanc or chablis.

Thai stir-fry goes well with German riesling. When you kick the heat up to four stars, however, you might forget the wine and go with a Tsing Tao beer.

The Northwest is a seafood and wine lover's paradise. Match up those dishes from the ocean with the flavors of the vine. It's a Northwest adventure to savor anytime of the year.