Leelanau’s white wines can be a natural match for the fish found in and around the Great Lakes, but the best pairing depends on more than what’s on the plate.
For a classic Lake Michigan whitefish, “locally, I would recommend a dry Rieslings or a Pinot Gris,” said Kate Vilter Stassen, owner of Peninsula Provisions, a wine and specialty food shop in Lake Leelanau.
Vilter Stassen describes whitefish as a lighter, more delicate fish, which makes lighter white wines a good place to start. The goal, she said, is balance.
“You don’t want either one of them to overwhelm, you want them to be kind of harmonious,” she said.
Her local favorites to accompany a simply prepared whitefish include Left Foot Charley’s Kerner, Bel lago’s Auxerrois and Chateau Fontaine’s Pinot Gris.
Change the preparation however, and you change the wine. For blackened or spicy whitefish, Vilter Stassen would instead reach for a white with a touch of sweetness to offset the heat. A heavier cream sauce, meanwhile, calls for a richer wine such as a Chardonnay.
Her general approach is to match the weight of the wine to the weight of the fish and sauce.
“With a lighter fish, I look for lighter wines and with a richer fish or richer sauce, then I start going to heartier wines,” Vilter Stassen said.
When it comes to heartier fish such as salmon and trout, she explained that their stronger flavor and higher oil content allow them to stand up to fuller bodied wines. Chardonnay and Viognier are both great options, and she specifically recommends Brengman Brothers’ barrel fermented Chardonnay with either fish.
Vilter Stassen said that white wine in particular works so well with fish due to the acidity and Leelanau’s cool climate naturally tends to produce white wines with a higher acid content.
But, white wine isn’t the only option. One of the more surprising pairings is a light red wine. She said Pinot Noir, which generally has a lower tannin level compared to other reds, can work very well with a heartier salmon or trout. A heavier tannic red such as a Cabernet, on the other hand, won’t.
Rose is another flexible option. A Provence style rose suits lighter fish dishes, and her own favorite pairing is a rose with shellfish.
“It just reminds me of my deck in the summer time,” Vilter Stassen said.
For anyone nervous about pairing, she offered the rule of thumb, “if it grows together, it goes together.”
“If a wine is from that region and does well in that region, it often goes with the food of that region,” she said. “That’s why our lighter white wines go really well with whitefish. They also go really well with goat cheese from Idyll Farms for example.”
However, she doesn’t treat that as a hard rule. A wine doesn’t have to come from Leelanau to pair well with Leelanau food, she said, and “rules are meant to be broken.”
Her last bit of advice was simply to ask questions. Whether you’re in a wine shop or grocery store, if there’s a sommelier available, “never be afraid to ask questions,” she said, “that’s what we’re all there for.”
