Oregon Wine and Food Pairing
Fish Dish
Sea Bass and Ahi Tuna

Sea Bass and Ahi Tuna

A favorite use of white wines in cooking seafood is the sautée.

Recipe

Preparation

Choose a sea bass filet and an ahi tuna steak.

For the sea bass, put the sautée pan on moderate heat and a dollop of butter or margarine. Melt it down, and then pour in about a cup and a half of the wine.

Let the wine and butter simmer down until there's just a little skim of butter and wine on the surface, and swirl the pan around so the liquid doesn't burn. This reduction will glaze the pan and bring out all of the wine flavors.

Toss in mushroooms, shallots, or other ingredients you prefer, and then lay the bass filet in the liquid. Cook 4-5 minutes, flipping the filet midway, drain and serve. The wine will impart not the direct flavors, but hints of it, and will help tenderize the fish.

With the ahi tuna, try searing it. Turn the heat all the way up, pour in the wine, and plop moderate chunks of tuna laced with black pepper and your other favorite spices. The technique with this is to let the fish fully absorb the wine, and you burn both sides of the chunks for about a minute and a half, searing the surface but leaving the center red and juicy.

The sautée technique can be used for vegetabels or almost anything you want to toss into the pan.

Wine Pairings

OregonWines.com suggests serving the following types of wine while enjoying Sea Bass and Ahi Tuna. Click on a wine type to search our database for matching wines.

Chardonnay	Typically aged in oak, it is dry in flavor, with strong aromas, and has a golden hue. It is also used to produce Champagne and méthode Champenoise wines.
Mélon	A light, fruity wine with pale yellow hues.
Pinot Gris	A light, aromatic, wine with flavors of apple, pear, apricot, and other fruits, and with yellow to pale straw hues.
Sémillon	Often blended with Chardonnay, Semillon is a light, crisp, dry wine with light yellow hues.