Wine With Seafood: Shellfish, White Fish and Fried Fish

The best wine with seafood is a crisp, dry white: Muscadet, Chablis, Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc or a dry sparkling wine. Their acidity works like a squeeze of lemon, and they are light enough not to bury delicate fish. Richer shellfish such as lobster and crab can take a fuller Chardonnay, and oily fish opens the door to rosé and light reds. Here’s what to pour with shellfish, white fish, oily fish and fried fish.

The rules for wine and seafood

Wine Folly’s fish guide puts it simply: white wines pair best with fish. Three ideas explain why, and when to break the rule.

• Match the weight. Delicate fish wants a delicate wine; meatier fish can take a fuller one. Harvey Steiman’s Wine Spectator article on wine with fish reports the sommelier consensus that you pair with the whole dish, including its texture and sauce, and quotes Le Bernardin’s wine director looking at the fish’s texture first.
• Match the acidity. Acidity is the tart, mouthwatering quality in wine. Sommelier Raj Parr, in the same article, says high-acid dishes need high-acid wines.
• Watch the tannin. Tannin is the drying grip in red wine. Wine Folly explains that it interacts with fish oils and can leave a metallic aftertaste.

Seafood	Wines to try	Why it works
Raw oysters	Muscadet, Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc, dry Chenin Blanc, Champagne	Light, high-acid, saline wines suit briny shellfish
Mussels and clams	Muscadet, lean or oaked Chardonnay	Crisp whites match broth, garlic and herbs
Seared scallops	Off-dry Chenin Blanc (Vouvray), Chardonnay	Richness and caramelized edges want body and acidity
Shrimp	Provence rosé, Picpoul de Pinet, Muscadet, Soave Classico	Dry, fresh wines let the sweetness show
Lobster and crab	California Chardonnay, oaked Chardonnay	Rich texture needs a fuller white
Lean white fish	Muscadet, Albariño, Vinho Verde, Chablis	Zesty whites for delicate flesh
Meaty and oily fish	Dry rosé, white Burgundy, Pinot Noir, Gamay	Fuller flavors take fuller wines
Fried fish	Champagne or Cava, Muscadet, Grüner Veltliner, Soave Classico	Acidity and bubbles cut the batter

Sources for this table: Wine Folly, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast, as detailed below.

Oysters

Raw oysters are the classic test of a seafood wine. Wine Folly lists oysters among Muscadet’s best matches, and its Chardonnay page says lean styles of Chardonnay pair well with shellfish, particularly oysters. In Steiman’s 2004 Wine Spectator article, Le Bernardin’s wine director, Michel Couvreux, pairs oysters on the half-shell with a dry Loire Chenin Blanc or a crisp Riesling so the wine doesn’t overwhelm them.

In a 2014 Wine Spectator piece on wines for oysters, Steiman wrote that he has always gravitated to crisp Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, because its acidity and citrus flavors parallel oyster condiments such as lemon juice and mignonette. In his blind pairing session with creamy Shigoku oysters, the top five wines were Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Gris from Washington, Oregon and California.

Muscadet is a bone-dry, light white from the Loire Valley, made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. Wine Folly describes it as lean and minerally with high acidity and a saline quality, and notes that wines aged sur lie, on the spent yeast, gain a creamier texture. Our guide to Muscadet covers the labels. If you prefer Chardonnay, Chablis wine is the crisp, unoaked style from northern Burgundy.

Our pick for a dozen oysters: a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie. Wine Folly calls Sèvre et Maine the most important area for quality Muscadet.

Mussels, clams and scallops

Wine Folly’s Muscadet guide lists mussels, scallops and shrimp alongside oysters, and its Chardonnay page suggests lean Chardonnay with moules frites and oaked Chardonnay with linguine vongole (clams). We’d match the wine to the broth: a crisp white with a white-wine-and-garlic mussel pot, a rounder Chardonnay with cream.

Scallops are sweet and rich. Andy Myers, wine director for José Andrés’s Think Food Group, told Wine Enthusiast that seared scallops’ caramelization pairs well with a just off-dry Chenin Blanc, such as a demi-sec Vouvray from the Loire, because its sweetness echoes the scallop and its acidity cuts the richness.

Shrimp

Wine Enthusiast’s shrimp guide matches the wine to the way shrimp is cooked:

• Simple and sweet: a dry Provence rosé, which lets the shrimp’s own sweetness show.
• Briny: Picpoul de Pinet or Muscadet, classic shellfish wines with gentle saline notes, or Chablis, whose minerality the writer says often recalls seashells.
• Spicy: a crisp Alsace Riesling with some body.
• Grilled, fried or with butter, cream or mayonnaise: Soave Classico, which is textural yet refreshing.

Lobster and crab

Lobster is rich and dense, so delicate whites can disappear. Steiman’s Wine Spectator article said lobster’s heavy texture calls for a bigger, more robust California Chardonnay. Wine Folly suggests oaked Chardonnay for richer dishes such as crab cakes. Our pick for lobster with drawn butter is a lightly oaked Chardonnay: enough body to match the butter, with some acidity to keep it fresh.

White fish

Wine Folly sorts fish by texture, and the groups make shopping easy:

• Lean and flaky (sole, flounder, branzino, sea bass, tilapia, haddock): zesty whites such as Muscadet, Albariño, Vinho Verde, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Champagne or unoaked Chardonnay like Chablis.
• Medium-textured (cod, halibut, trout, red snapper, monkfish): medium-bodied, aromatic whites or oak-aged ones, such as Chardonnay, dry Chenin Blanc, white Rioja, Vermentino, dry Riesling or Pinot Gris.

The sauce can change the answer. For lemon, beurre blanc or vinegar sauces, Wine Folly suggests Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadet or Vinho Verde; for herb sauces, Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis; for spicy sauces, Grüner Veltliner, Riesling or Gewürztraminer.

Oily and meaty fish

Meaty fish such as tuna, swordfish, salmon and mahi mahi can take fuller whites, and Wine Folly lists oaked Chardonnay, Viognier, white Burgundy, vintage Champagne and dry rosé. Strongly flavored fish such as sardines, anchovies and mackerel often call for sparkling wine, dry rosé or a light red such as Pinot Noir or Gamay, according to the same guide.

Salmon gets its own guide: see our best wine with salmon for grilled, poached, smoked and teriyaki salmon.

Fried fish

Fried fish and fried shellfish need acidity, and ideally bubbles, to cut through the batter. For fish tacos, Wine Folly suggests Grüner Veltliner, Muscadet or Champagne, and Wine Enthusiast’s shrimp guide recommends Soave Classico for deep-fried shrimp. In our view, a dry sparkling wine such as Cava or Champagne is the best all-round choice for fish and chips, fried calamari or a fried seafood platter: the bubbles and acidity refresh the palate after every bite.

Red wine with seafood

You can drink red with fish, as long as it’s light. Wine Folly suggests low-tannin reds, and Steiman’s Wine Spectator article notes that Pinot Noir has become a popular match for salmon and tuna, and that meatier, milder fish such as swordfish can take a red. The same article says young Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are generally too tannic and forceful for most fish dishes and are better saved for steak.

Tip: If you want red with fish, we’d chill a Pinot Noir or Gamay for 20 minutes and choose a meaty fish with a savory sauce, such as mushrooms or tomato.

Finding a good bottle

For weeknight fish, we’d start with a Muscadet, Albariño, Vinho Verde or Sauvignon Blanc: all are crisp, dry and widely sold. For the principles behind all of these matches, see our wine and food pairing guide.

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