Wine pairing for smoked foods?

WINE TALK
21

Somm TV released a piece about a month ago about wine pairings at SingleThread. One of the dishes that was difficult to pair was a smoked black cod. Rather than going with a something expected like beer, riesling or champagne, the somm went in a completely different direction with an aged Gran Reserva Rioja. I am certainly intrigued and will try that next time I smoke any fish. If you have Somm TV, check out the show; it’s an interesting perspective from a somm on pairing wine with food.

22

Interesting, will check that out. Went to the Singlethread gig in Singapore a couple months ago, there was a cod taco dish with a Sonoma Pinot Noir. Was nice. Don’t recall it being smoked, necessarily though…

23

Or Lambrusco

24

Yup, Lambrusco. Had a glass with lightly smoked Italian sausage yesterday, just about perfect.

25

Ha! I’m going to risk the wrath of Glea$on and explain that I was tongue-in-cheek responding to the Bachelet comment. Others have noted that Champagne and Lambrusco seem to be all-purpose Board pairing responses.
(not that Lambrusco isn’t versatile and good with smoked foods)

26

I am sensitive to that metallic clash. Like with many things, there seems to be a huge variance in sensitivity, and some people basically don’t get the reaction at all. For those of us who are sensitive, smoked salmon in particular seems to be one of the worst offenders (right up there with tuna toro).

I love smoked salmon, so I have tried almost everything suggested here, many of them quite a few times. I have found no pairing where the wine tastes good. The closest I have come is Txakolina, where the wine is super refreshing and has very little flavor to be messed up by the fish, but it still tastes much better on its own than it does after a bite of smoked salmon (even in a sandwich with lots of other things). Off-dry Riesling seems like the most obvious choice, so I’ve tried it literally dozens of times, and every time the wine tastes terrible (to me) with the salmon, which is sad because I love off-dry Riesling.

While I don’t doubt anyone’s experiences for their own tastes, there’s no such thing as a universal perfect pairing. In this case, for people with the sensitivity that I have, which is not uncommon at all, I truly think wine just does not work, and any red wine is a particularly bad idea.

And yes, the smoke makes the metallic reaction MUCH worse. It isn’t the pepper.

1 Like
27

This is real interesting to learn.
I am NOT one who thinks “everything is better with wine”, purporting instead “the right drink with the right food” with water being the default right drink with everything; and the caveat that everyone’s taste is different, which your description so clearly illustrates!

2 Likes
28

I HATE red wine with fish, including smoked, because I too suffer from some sort of reaction between the two. A pairing that ruins both the wine and the fish.

1 Like
29

I tried some Daniel Boulud smoked salmon with ‘95 Insignia tonight. Both are great on their own, but are horrible together.

30

I’ll have to try fino sherry

1 Like
31

We have a slab of smoked pepper salmon every Monday (from the Sunday Farmers Market) and we always have Champagne with it and it’s always a delicious pairing!

Tom

32

I agree with Doug_Schulman. It seemed that the wine was clashing with the smoke, not the pepper.

I think the lesson here is that the answer is always Champagne.

1 Like
33

I have been a big fan of Pinot Noir with salmon forever. I agree with some posters that the pepper may be the cause of the mismatch.

For a red with peppered smoked salmon, I would go with a Cotes du Rhone or a Roussillon. If I liked Beaujolais more, I could see that as well.

Dan Kravitz

34

Kevin_Porter

21h

Ha! I’m going to risk the wrath of Glea$on and explain that I was tongue-in-cheek responding to the Bachelet comment. Others have noted that Champagne and Lambrusco seem to be all-purpose Board pairing responses.
(not that Lambrusco isn’t versatile and good with smoked foods)

Yes, Champagne is the lazy man’s response to the question, “What wine should I pair with this food?” I always want to say, “Come on, try harder!”

1 Like
35

Why mess with perfection? Popcorn? Champagne. Fried Chicken? Champagne. Bellybutton shots from a nubile Scandinavian godess? Champagne. Smoked fish? Champagne. See? Perfection.

36

Which restaurant has this on the tasting menu? Asking for a friend.

37

Quite a few 2020 Napa cabs might work. Particularly those under NDA labels.

38

[Armando_Basarrate]

Quite a few 2020 Napa cabs might work. Particularly those under NDA labels.

For smoked salmon??

1 Like
39

My attempt at humor (in view of the reported smoke damage to much of the 2020 crop). Apparently I missed the mark.

40

So far, lots to choose from (I’ll edit to update occasionally):

  • Chenin Blanc
  • Riesling with residual sugar
  • Riesling without residual sugar
  • Sauvignon Blanc
  • White Bordeaux
  • Pouilly-Fumé
  • Pinot Blanc
  • Champagne
  • Rose Champagne
  • Gruner Veltliner
  • Rosé Vinho Verde
  • Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley
  • Pinot Noir from Oregon
  • Pinot Noir from Sonoma
  • Pinot Noir from 2020 with smoke taint :rofl:
  • Burgundy (Bachelet specifically, but white or red?)
  • Australian Shiraz (Grange specifically)
  • Pinot Gris (Alsatian semi-specifically)
  • Gran Riserva Rioja
  • Lambrusco
  • Fino Sherry
  • Other types of Sherry
1 Like