3 WAYS WITH Salmon
Judging by the space devoted to it on supermarket shelves, salmon is our most popular seafood – the chicken of the fish world, if you like. And like chicken, it can be served in many ways, its accompanying flavours being more likely to dictate your wine choice than the fish itself.
Once, salmon was more of a treat than a (relatively) cheap and easy midweek meal. It was wild rather than farmed, classically poached in a fish kettle and served warm with a hollandaise sauce or cold with mayonnaise (posh white Burgundy in both cases, a richer style if you were serving it hot). Nowadays, it’s often grilled or roasted and partnered with almost every herb and spice going. So the wine you choose will depend on those flavours.
SMOKED SALMON
Traditionally matched with Champagne, which works with canapés, less well with a plate of smoked salmon, particularly if it has an assertive smoke. Manzanilla is a brilliant match in the latter case, but Sauvignon Blanc, especially oaked Sauvignon, is a surprisingly good pairing.
SALMON EN CROUTE
Like poaching, this is a subtle way of serving salmon that allows the flavour of the fish to shine. It also makes it the perfect foil for a good white Burgundy such as a St-Aubin or ChassagneMontrachet, or other cool-climate Chardonnay. Blanc de blancs Champagne is also a delicious match.
GRILLED OR SEARED SALMON
Salmon is often cooked with some kind of marinade so you need to take that into account. It may be spicy (in which case you might want to drink, say, a Clare Valley Riesling from South Australia); it may be sweet. That said, the fact that the salmon is seared, maybe on the barbecue, suggests a red, and Pinot Noir, especially from the New World, is the obvious candidate. (The Salmon Bake is always the highlight of Oregon’s International Pinot Noir Celebration.)
Strongly identified with the often wind- and rain-swept region of Rías Baixas on Spain’s Galician coast, Albariño is regularly referred to as the archetypal Atlantic wine. In its northwest-Spanish heartland – where many of the vines are trained using an above-head height pergola system – its firm skins and naturally high acidity form a formidable armour to the sometimes unforgiving climate. Despite this, the grape (known as Alvarinho when in Portugal) is dexterous, producing herb-infused, mineral and citrussy wines that run the gamut from early-bottled styles to those aged for years on lees and in bottle.
Vermentino, in contrast, is very much shaped by the Mediterranean. Sardinia is its natural home, although you will also find it throughout southern France, where it can be known as Rolle. Despite the marked temperature differential of the two regions, Vermentino easily replicates the herbaceous, lemon- and lime-led characteristics of Albariño and, despite its thinner skin, also delivers similar, sea-influenced acidity and relatively moderate alcohol. ▶