RAISE A GLASS

IF YOU keep up with me, you’ll know I love a bit of a scientific experiment matching food and wine. I’m often geared up, spatula at the ready, to mix and match and cook and sizzle.

Now Seafood Week is upon us I’m ready and willing once again.

Over the years I’ve shared some lovely seafood dinners and lunches with wine producers; not least in the northern Spain wine region of Rías Baixas, sipping albariño; or in Portugal, with a glass of vinho verde.

Just last week I was in the Prosecco DOCG region (that’s the home of Prosecco Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene) and my first dinner was in the Ca’ del Poggio restaurant with a stunning view over the Unesco World Heritage hills of the region.

We sipped prosecco superiore all through the meal, as we ate swordfish, shrimp skewers and sea bass. So you see, Prosecco DOCG can definitely have a place in your Seafood Week. I’ll tell you more about this wine style another time.

Right now I’m thinking white wine, specifically chardonnay, and some pairing ideas shared via the team at the Fish is the Dish website (details to follow).

My first choice is Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay (£12, Asda) and a suggested seafood dish is fish burgers with herb mayonnaise. The term “wild ferment” indicates that native yeast converted the grapes (in this case, picked in the Casablanca Valley in Chile) to alcohol.

Native yeast lives around us and it adds a complexity to wines made in this way. This wine was also aged in oak. The result? It is a creamy, textured wine, with notes of tropical fruit and pear. There’s a good acidity and a lovely freshness which will shine with seafood.

Robert Oatley Signature Chardonnay (RRP £13.95, the Co-op and Ocado) is a lip-tingling zap of a wine

from the Margaret River region, which hugs the Pacific coast on the south-western side of Australia.

I’m told pan-fried aubergine, lemon sole, shitake and truffle oil is perfect for this wine.

It is a crisp, zesty chardonnay, with a subtle touch of oak. There are notes of citrus and white peach, with an ever-so light honeyed touch. The flavours last long in the mouth.

My final wine, should you be getting the seafood vibes, is one where grapes have grown on limestone soil, on an ancient seabed.

I’m told that Louis Jadot Chablis Cellier de la Sablière (RRP £22.75, Ocado, Amazon) is an ideal choice for salmon baked in a salt crust, served alongside gnocchi with pesto,

peas, cream and parmesan.

Sounds delicious. This is definitely my next experiment!

The wine has aromas of stone fruit and a subtle floral note which made my mouth water before I even sipped. The wine is deliciously rounded from a little amount of aging on its lees. The fruit is ripe and full in the mouth, yet the wine is perfectly crisp and in balance. The flavour sensation lasts a delicious while.

Very lovely indeed.

■ All the fish recipes, and more, can be found at fishisthedish. co.uk. Follow the links to Seafood Week, which runs from October 4 to 11.

■ Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.