Lifestyle

Wines for fish that will have you hooked | Fiona Beckett


Cast your mind a good few years back and you may recall a time when rosé was not the automatic go-to for August drinking. The summer wines of my youth were all white: carafes consumed at a beachside cafe, often of no great distinction or quality but cold and refreshing, quaffed with anything from a plate of calamari to a kebab.

These seaside wines, as I like to think of them, are still around, just not much lauded. Muscadet, chablis, pinot grigio: the names that come to mind are mainly French and Italian. They are dry, and often neutral to the point of anonymity, but that is exactly what makes them so great with fresh shellfish – from a pint of prawns to a plateau de fruits de mer.

They may strike you as sharp, even acidic, but it is an acidity that dissipates in contact with a raw oyster or a bowl of mussels. Clean as a whistle, crisp – a word freely bandied about by wine writers, I often think, to the mystification of our readers. “Crisp” is for freshly pressed sheets or cos lettuce, not wine, you might reasonably observe – although perhaps it is more illuminating than “mineral”, the slightly slatey taste you get in Pouilly-Fumé.

They tend to be light by today’s standards – 12 to 12.5% – and unoaked; best drunk young, rather than stashed away. They’re often actually made near the sea, not just designed to be drunk with seafood: think Picpoul de Pinet from the Languedoc, conveniently near the oyster beds of the Bassin de Thau; fashionable albariño from Spain’s Atlantic coast (and its Portuguese cousin, alvarinho); bright, zippy assyrtiko from the Greek island of Santorini (in fact, many Greek whites fall into this category). Land-bound Chablis is an exception to the rule, but that used to be underwater and there are still traces of oyster shells in the soils. Many Italian wines are crisp and clean, too, though sometimes with a more earthy, rustic character – verdicchio, vernaccia, vermentino, the latter a popular house white on the island of Sardinia. Oh, and pecorino, too – the wine, not the cheese. The Wine Society does a delicious one, the Pecorino Abruzzo Contesa 2018 (13%), conveniently in half bottles for £5.75.

Enjoy them while you can: as temperatures cool and food becomes more hearty and substantial, you may fancy something more nuanced, weighty or complex. Or maybe not. If you are a fan of raw fish – tartares, carpaccios and sashimis – the seaside wine habit is hard to break.

Four fresh whites to enjoy with a fish supper


Vue sur Mer Cotes de Thau 2018


Vue sur Mer Cotes de Thau 2018

£5.99 Aldi, 12%.

Well-priced alternative to pure Picpoul. Ideal for Friday fish and chips.


Albanta Albariño 2018


Albanta Albariño 2018

£7.99 Aldi, 13%.

Again from Aldi, this award-winning Galician white is perfect with grilled fish.


Morrisons The Best Verdicchio 2018


Morrisons The Best Verdicchio 2018

On offer at £6, 12%.

Neutral, slightly nutty white to drink with seafood-based antipasti and pastas.


Mylonas Winery Malagousia 2018


Mylonas Winery Malagousia 2018

£13.60 Maltby & Greek,, £13.70 Pull the Cork 12%.

Mouthwateringly delicious Greek white. Drink with swordfish or squid.




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