Smoked trout

Smoked trout

Assuming smoked trout served cold with horseradish cream, beetroot or cucumber and brown bread.

Smoked trout is delicate but smoky and gently oily, often with the heat of horseradish. The wine needs high acidity to cut the oil and cream, and a mineral or citrus edge that sits beside smoke without fighting it. Oak clashes with smoke and turns metallic against fish, and tannic reds do the same.

Pairs Perfectly. Riesling, Alsace, France, dry. Lemon, green apple and a mineral streak on high acidity, fuller than German Riesling and a classic partner for smoked fish.

Pairs Well. An Austrian Grüner Veltliner in a light, mineral style, a Federspiel from the Wachau, dry. Green apple and white pepper on crisp acidity, good with horseradish and cucumber.

Pairs Well. Chablis, Burgundy, France. Unoaked Chardonnay, lemony and stony, which keeps smoked fish fresh, and never expensive.

Worth Seeking Out

Furmint from Tokaj, Hungary, dry. Smoky, mineral and high in acidity with apple and lime, a white that echoes the smoke.

Avoid

Oaked whites and reds. Oak clashes with smoke and turns metallic against fish.

Failing That

A Fino Sherry, Jerez, Spain.

If All Else Fails

Albariño, Rías Baixas.

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