Tasting caviar can be much more than just eating it with a spoon. Of course, you can choose such a minimalistic approach and still enjoy its flavor, but why not take more from this extravagant food by complementing it with the right drink? A properly selected beverage will emphasize unique fish egg characteristics and balance the flavor you feel in your mouth.
What drink should you choose? Caviar with wine is a classic pairing you could find on the tables of royal houses and elite receptions. However, the wine selection is pretty wide, and choosing the right type to pair with the delicacy is essential. So, in this article, we will contemplate different wines and highlight those that would go great with sturgeon caviar.
Get ready to visit our caviar store and wine shop.
What wine goes with caviar?
So, a caviar jar is waiting in your fridge, and you look through shelves in the wine store to pick the bottle for your date, special dinner, or anniversary. What wine should you go for? As you can guess, as for caviar and wine pairing, there are some established choices, which implies that there are some appropriate combinations, as well as some hard no’s. However, no one can stop you from trying some more adventurous pairings that you might actually love, despite the traditional rules gourmands push.
To help you navigate the world of caviar and wine, we gathered the most interesting brands of this beverage that will be a good match for your tasting.
White Wine
White wines are the most popular choice to go with fish roe. You would want to find a balance between extra dry types and buttery ones to find the best wine for caviar, which won’t overwhelm you and hide the rich salty tones of caviar.
So, we suggest finding a wine with a light body, subtle fruity notes, and a significant amount of acidity. Luckily, there are a big variety of such wines, and you would be able to choose one to your preferences.
Chablis
A lot of experts recommend Chablis wine and name it an example of the best white wine for caviar. As classic dry wine with high acidity and medium body, it would be a great pairing for beluga's roe. Well, you can still try it with other types of caviar, as this wine has vivid tastes of citruses, as well as green apples and pears, which is something you would want to complete the fishy, oily roes.
Chenin Blanc
Another common choice for caviar tasting is this dry wine with nice, subtle notes that will accentuate the delicacy, instead of covering it fully. Connoisseurs notice vivid pear and apple notes, as well as more exotic tastes of tropical fruits like guava or pineapple. Such an interesting combination of the different tastes creates a superior burst of flavor that will give you a feeling of extreme freshness afterward.
Riesling
Riesling is a popular beverage and one of the best white wines for caviar. Another wine with a medium body, so valuable high acidity and citrus notes, persistent finish, and mineral aftertaste. As you can see, it has almost everything the wine needs to be the proper pairing for caviar, hence, if you have any doubts about what bottle to bring for seafood dinner, it will always be a safe choice.
Pinot Grigio
This light, crisp Italian wine will harmonize with large fish roes, for example, of white sturgeon or hackelback. It is easy to drink, again with a citrus taste and enticing aroma, and will make a great addition to your dinner table.
Chardonnay
We can not mention chardonnay in our list, as it is still one of the most popular epitomes of white wines. However, when choosing a bottle of chardonnay to drink with caviar, you should be careful about ones with a bright oak taste this type of wine might have. Oak will mask the freshness and saltiness of fish eggs, and you will miss everything this special product is famous for. Hence, take your time to compare different interpretations of this white wine.
Dessert Wine
There is no unified definition for dessert wines, as it varies from country to country. Dessert wines, as you can guess, are traditionally served together with sweet confections, so you might ask, why are we talking about dessert wine with caviar?
It is no time better than nowadays to break some classic wine pairings and try something totally new with caviar. A combination of high sugar and salty caviar might be not something old-school connoisseurs will appreciate, but it is still worth your attention, and who knows, maybe such a “blasphemous” pairing will excite you more than traditional options.
Moscato
Full-bodied, semi-sweet, and balanced in acidity, Moscato will be a treat to drink after the main dish was served, and you decide to finish your meal with a small scoop of fish eggs.
Port
This fortified traditional Portuguese wine is definitely far from traditional choices, but balsamic sweetness will bring something new and unexpected to your table.
Sherry
The same goes with sherry, another fortified sweet wine born in the south of Spain. It is worth trying it together with intense caviar, then, you will experience an intriguing combination of opposite tastes.
Sparkling Wine
Sparkling wine is another classic, namely caviar and champagne. These two elite products often go hand in hand due to the perfect match they create. However, French champagne is not the only sparkling wine you can pick.
Dom Perignon
If you want to stick to champagne, you will want to find a crisp, dry, acidic drink, which would keep the balance we talk about so much. Dom Perignon, an elite example of champagne, has all that characteristics and will be an appropriate option.
Prosecco
Prosecco wine pairing can never have a champagne label, but it doesn't mean that it would be a great pick for caviar. It is light-bodied, acidic, and fizzy — everything you need for the perfect sparkling wine with a caviar combination.
Cava
This Spanish sparkling wine will also give you a burst of flavor when trying it with fish roe, and give you notes of green apples and citrus to complement the sea taste of the delicacy.
Red Wine: The choice is up to you
Red wine and caviar is a pair usually frowned upon, as this beverage is too strong and covers the real taste of the delicacy. It is definitely not the best wine with caviar, if you still want to drink it, try to pick light-bodied types that will give chance to caviar to reveal its characteristics.
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir with caviar won’t be our first choice, but among the red wines, it is still rather right-bodied, smooth, and dry, which would work okay with caviar saltiness.
Gamay
A very light-bodied and dry wine with notes of fruits and berries. Due to high acidity, it might not overpower caviar as much, which is definitely a plus.
Bester Caviar - your trusted supplier
To enjoy caviar in accompaniment of wine, you need not only to choose the right wine but also the right caviar. It should be fresh, properly stored, and transported, and it also should come from healthy, strong sturgeons. Bester Caviar works hard to ensure the high quality of our product. Our sturgeons live in eco-friendly aqua farms in pristine, natural conditions.
We offer a variety of caviar types, including osetra, Siberian sturgeon, river, and hybrid beluga, as well as food pairing, accessories, and gift sets you might buy to share the excitement with your close ones.
We believe that everyone should have an opportunity to experience caviar flavor, so we strive to make this delicacy affordable and available for everyone. Our Caviar Club unites caviar enthusiasts who have made caviar tasting their ritual. Join our community to get the delicacy on a regular basis at wholesale prices and enjoy this experience!Written by Inna Polutska