When a wine and food pairing works, the gastronomic experience heightens, the drink and the dish transform, each tasting better than they would separately. Sound good? Below are some rules to follow when pairing tinned fish with wine. Feel free to flout them though. Your own wine preferences should always take precedence.
The savoury flavour, umami, is a key feature of tinned fish. And umami is a tricky one to pair with wine. It cranks up the bitterness and acidity in wine and depletes its body and fruitiness. But fear not, you can pair wine with a dish’s overriding flavours.
Although anchovies are little umami bombs, they’re primarily salty. And wine loves salt. It will make a wine seem sweeter and more fruity whilst muting its acidity.
- Pair anchovies with high-acidity wines so that the wine’s acidity doesn’t wilt too far and become saggy: Albariño, Chablis, Assyrtiko, a dry Riesling, Champagne or vermouth are all great to partner with anchovies.
- The salt will make the wine seem fuller bodied too. Pair anchovies with the above and other light bodied whites like Pinot Grigio, Txakoli, and classic seafood pairing wine Muscadet. Or a rosé from south east France.
- Pair food and wine by matching flavours. Try a creamy tin with a creamy wine. Los Peperetes ventresca in Jersey butter with a big buttery Chardonnay. Or a smokey Californian or Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc with a smoked anchovy gilda. The gilda’s spicy guindilla pepper will make the alcohol in the wine seem warmer. If you like this, you’re all set. If you don’t, pair gildas with a lower alcohol wine: high-acidity wines like a crisp, saline vinho verde or a Hunter Valley Semillon. Spicy food likes sweet wines too. Pair the tinned fish with chilli tins with an off-dry Riesling or Gewürztraminer or a sweet, sparkling Moscato d’Asti.
- Bubbles refresh the palate and cut through the oiliness of the fish too. Reach for sparkling white wines like Champagne, Cava or Prosecco. Or a slightly fizzy vinho verde, or Txakoli poured the Basque way, from above the shoulder to awake the bubbles.
- Pair oily fish like sardines, mackerel, herring, salmon (and anchovies) with high acidity wines with green and citrus fruit flavours. The acidity and bright flavours will cut through the oiliness and refresh the palate. Look for cooler climate wines like Riesling from Germany’s Mosel Valley, Chardonnay from Australia’s Mornington Peninsula, Sancerre or Muscadet from the Loire.
- A lot of umami-rich tinned fish comes in escabeche - wine vinegar and olive oil - or with lemon. And acidity pairs a treat with wine. Like salt, it makes wine seem fuller bodied, sweeter and less acidic. Pair acidic tinned fish like tuna, sardines and mussels in escabeche with high-acidity wines. A chilled red like a Loire Valley Cabernet Franc, a red Burgundy or Beaujolais, a Valpolicella from the Italian region’s cooler northern climes, or dry whites like a Gavi or a sparkling Chenin Blanc would be good too.
Finally, remember if a pairing goes pear shaped the wine will be affected more profoundly than the food, so your tinned fish will always be safe!
