Pairing Italian Red Wine With Fish – An American Tradition

Speak to most wine aficionados about the idea of pairing Italian red wine with fish and they’ll tell you that you’re crazy.

You don’t pair red wine with fish.

The wine’s too powerful for the subtle flavours in the fish. With a red wine, you’re drinking something with so much complexity that it’s impossible to taste the fish.

That’s why a white wine is always the best choice. It’s less powerful and more refreshing, which makes it perfect for pairing with fish.

That’s just common knowledge, right?

If that’s the case, why have Americans paired fish with red wine for so long?

Do they just have different tastebuds? It’s a possibility. After all, American culture can seem so alien to people from other countries that you might just assume they have different tastebuds too.

Or perhaps the Americans know something that the rest of the world doesn’t. Perhaps, untethered by traditional pairing ideas, they’ve stumbled upon something that everyone else needs to know about.

We like to think that it’s the latter.

After all, American has a thriving wine industry of its own. It’s not like its people don’t understand or appreciate how wine pairs with foods.

But still…pairing red wine with fish?

It can be done. You just need to take care with your pairing choices to make sure it works. Here are the 3 tips that will help you to enjoy your fish meal like an American.

Tip #1 – Know When to do it

Just because people can pair red wine with fish, that doesn’t mean that they always do it. In fact, there are certain types of fish that pair horribly with a red wine. In those cases, all of the traditional knowledge rings true. The wine overpowers the fish and you end up with a terrible meal.

You need to know when a red wine and fish pairing makes sense before you jump right in and do it.

We recommend that you try it in the following cases:

• You have a meaty fish dish. Monkfish is a good example here. The meat on the fish is so thick that it’s almost like you’re eating a steak. Meaty fish tends to be richer than regular fish, so a red wine pairing works here.
• You’re enjoying a little surf and turf. For example, combining steak with scampi is popular in the UK. The scampi gets battered, which adds to its richness. And thanks to that, a red wine works with this dish.
• If there’s a red wine sauce then you can feel pretty safe about pairing a red wine with the dish. After all, the sauce imbues the fish with its own richness. That means it’s not going to be overpowered by the wine that you’re drinking.
• If you’ve barbecued the fish, you’ve released a whole bunch of flavours that can actually overpower a white wine. In this case, a red may be your only option.
• And finally, you have roasted fish. Now, this isn’t always a perfect pairing with red wine. But a roasted monkfish, for example, has a powerful flavour that’s quite unlike any other type of fish dish. 

So, the key thing to remember is that Italian red wine doesn’t complement everyfish dish. In fact, there are plenty of dishes for which it’s a terrible choice.

However, there are various cooking styles and types of fish that have a little more flavour power to them. In these cases, you absolutely should try combining with a red wine. You might even find that the white you drank before simply wasn’t up to the task.

Tip #2 – Look for Lighter Wines

Having said all of that, even the most flavoursome and rich fish likely won’t compete with a cut of red meat. A good steak or lamb shank will outdo a rich fish any day of the week.

That probably means that you don’t want to pair a Chianti or a Barolo with fish. The complex flavours in these wines will still have an overpowering effect.

Instead, go for a lighter option. You might even try to work your way up with a Rosé before you get to a full red.

If you want to jump into full red wine territory, a lighter Pinot Noir is usually a safe bet. You may also want to try a Syrah or similar variety of wine.

We’re not going to say that the lighter the better is a hard and fast rule. But it’s better to start with something light and work your way up than to go for the most complex red wine and completely ruin the dish.

Tip #3 – It’s About the Dish As Well as the Fish

When people talk about wine and fish, they often make a critical mistake.

They assume that the fish is the richest ingredient on the plate. But the odds are pretty high that you’ll have other ingredients to consider.

We touched on this earlier when we spoke about surf and turf and red wine sauces. Both dishes lend a completely new dimension to the fish that almost makes it richer by proxy.

The point is that you shouldn’t just think about the fish alone when deciding on your wine. That goes for any dish that you decide to drink a glass of wine with. It’s the combination of the ingredients that create the flavour, rather than a single ingredient on its own.

Think about it like this.

When you have a fish dish, do you just eat one ingredient before moving onto the next? Or, do you try to pile as much onto your fork as possible before stuffing it into your mouth?

The Final Word

Italian red wine and fish isn’t the big no-no that so many think that it is.

In the right circumstances, it can definitely work. This is something that the Americans have known for a long time and it’s about time that the rest of the world jumped on board.

Maybe you could try complementing your next red wine purchase from us with a fish dish?