For Christmas, which wine to drink with a seafood platter?

Nothing enhances an excellent shellfish platter like a fine bottle of white wine or champagne. However, it's important to consider a few details before selecting your wine. Follow our guide and tips to discover the best wine pairings with your seafood platter.

What Wines to Drink with Shellfish and Seafood?

Seafood platters are highly sought after during festive meals. They often include shellfish like oysters, sea urchins, whelks, mussels, and clams, along with some crustaceans such as shrimp, crab, lobster, or langoustine. While it is common to pair seafood platters with dry white wine, some prefer to pop open a bottle of champagne. In any case, sweet and mellow white wines, red wines, and rosés are much harder to pair with shellfish and crustaceans.

The iodized and salty taste of shellfish, along with their smooth and delicate texture, requires a pairing with a dry, mineral white wine that is fresh and taut. That’s why we generally turn to white wines with a northern profile, such as those from the Loire, Alsace, or Burgundy, particularly AOC Chablis. If you prefer to accompany your seafood platter with bubbles, opt for a bottle of AOC Champagne Brut or non-dosed, with a taut profile and salty, slightly buttery notes, perfect for enhancing your oysters.

The Best Wine Pairings with Seafood

Among Loire white wines, three grape varieties pair particularly well with seafood: Sauvignon Blanc, Melon de Bourgogne, and Chenin Blanc. Therefore, we recommend starting with a AOP Sancerre with its refined, slightly fruity profile, a bottle from an AOC Muscadet estate that is fresh and mineral, or a cuvée from AOC Anjou based on Chenin Blanc, for its tension and length. If you prefer Alsace wines, go for a cuvée made from Riesling or Sylvaner, which are both fruity and mineral.

If you want to pair your seafood platter with fruitier dry white wines, you can also look towards Bordeaux wines, such as an AOC Entre-deux-Mers. For a more southern touch, try a cuvée from a Languedoc estate made from Chardonnay, which is more rounded in the mouth compared to a Chardonnay from Burgundy or the Loire. These options will allow you to enjoy a great wine pairing with shellfish even if you prefer less dry white wines.

A seafood platter is all the more enjoyable when paired with a good bottle of wine. At Avenue des Vins, you’ll surely find what you’re looking for with our cuvées sourced directly from the estate or château delivered to your home. Discover our selection of dry white wines or champagnes to accompany your shellfish platter or any other recipe of your choice. Take advantage of our best cuvées at great prices and our range of white, red, rosé wines, champagne, or sparkling wines to enhance your festive meals or to gift to your loved ones.