Growing up in an Italian family, Christmas Eve has always meant large family gatherings and lots of seafood. I don’t know if we did exactly the Feast of the Seven Fishes, but we came close. (I think we usually cut it off at five types of seafood. After all, we lived in Ohio, where fresh seafood was not abundant.)
Since the size and distance of the family has changed considerably over the years, Christmas Eve dinners have gotten tremendously smaller for me . Also, my wife does not like seafood, so whatever seafood dish I make I end up eating it myself.
A new tradition I have developed over the years is linguine and clams on Christmas Eve. Living on the East Coast means having fresh seafood right at your doorstep. In my case, the clams at my local seafood shop are harvested from the waters of our neighboring town. Believe me when I tell you that you have NEVER had clams like these. They are sweet and no brine.
Shellfish and wine is not a difficult pairing. Generally, look for a white with a clean taste, low fruit, and mineral notes. A buttery, oaky chardonnay just will not do. Nor will a fruity chablis. A sancerre that accents the mineral notes over the fruity notes will work if you want to stick with French wines.
I spotted this wine at Lake Wine and Spirits in Southbury, Connecticut. It was $17.99, which was not a bad price for the wine. The wine is 100 per cent grillo. Regular readers will recall that I sampled a grillo last month that was $24.97 a bottle at my local wine shop and really enjoyed it.
Unlike the Marco De Bartoli sampled then, this wine was not as complex or fruity. But it did have enough backbone, minerality, and fruit notes to pair perfectly with this dish.
This wine does not drink well on its own. It is sharp and dry, with the fruit taking a back seat to the mineral characteristics. The finish is crisp and fruity, though. Overall, it demands to be paired with a food or cheese to bring out its true essence.
So how did it fare with linguine and clams? Dynamite! The clams and linguine really accented the mineral and saline notes and subtle citrus and white peach. I also had an arugula salad with lemon juice and olive oil that also paired beautifully with it. The salad and dressing combined with the wine really delivered a citrus punch. The sharpness of the wine stood up perfectly to the tartness of the arugula.
Overall, if you are looking for a good Sicilian grillo at a lower price point than Marco De Bartoli “Vignaverde” Terre Siciliane Grillo 2024, this is it.
You can read more about the wine here. Wine Enthusiast gave it a 90. I agree.
Leave a Reply