Cod fillet

Cod fillet

Assuming a cod fillet pan roasted in butter, served with peas, greens or brown shrimp.

Cod is mild, sweet and flaky, and like all white fish it turns metallic against oak, so the glass should be unoaked and clean. A pan roasted fillet with butter wants a white with some texture and bright acidity. Tannin and heavy wines bury it.

Pairs Perfectly. Pecorino, Abruzzo, Italy. Taut, green herbed and mineral with high acidity and a little more body than most light whites, which suits a buttery fillet without covering it. It is unoaked and modestly priced.

Pairs Well. Dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes, New York, USA. Lean, lime scented and slatey, a clean cut through butter.

Pairs Well. Chasselas, Valais, Switzerland. Soft, stony and low in alcohol, the wine drunk with lake fish in the Alps.

Worth Seeking Out

Solaris from England. A dry, fresh white grown in cool English vineyards, with green apple and a little texture for cod with peas.

Avoid

Oaked whites and red wine. Oak and white fish together taste metallic, and tannin does the same.

Failing That

A Soave, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Picpoul de Pinet, France.

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