The Best Caviar and Wine Pairings
Media Platforms Design Team
These are the days when store windows are filled with luxurious chocolates, champagnes, wines, truffles and elegant tins of—what else?—caviar. With a little help from Petrossian, a New York City institution and purveyor of fine caviar, and Mary McAuley, founder of Ripe Life Wines and certified sommelier, here are five amazing pairings to take you through the holiday season and beyond.
1) For the beginner, Royal Siberian Caviar: These medium-sized glistening grains with their melt-in-your-mouth silkiness are from Siberian sturgeon, farm-raised in Florida under conditions identical to their native waters.
Pair with Clambake Chardonnay: The Clambake Chardonnay is an American Chardonnay produced in Mendocino, California. It's unoaked, stainless-steel fermentation allows the light, crisp Chardonnay to come through—a perfect complement for caviar, as well as for seafood in general.
2) For the intermediates, Transmontanus Imperial: Farm-raised white sturgeons native to California produce this elegant caviar which evokes the taste of the finest Ossetra. Its nutty flavor is at once smooth and robust.
Pair with Castellroig Sparkling Trepat Rosé: This sparkling rosé from Spain is very zippy and dry, counterbalancing the nuttiness and earthiness of the caviar. It's a beautiful salmon-colored wine, a little unconventional in flavor as far as rosés go.
3) For the caviar connoisseur, Ossetra Special Reserve: Exceedingly rare. Exquisitely rich. This smooth and buttery caviar reveals a complex array of briny notes, gloriously imparting the flavor of the sea.
Pair with Erpacrife Nebbiolo: A sparkling wine from Nebbiolo is a rarity, but its pink hue is alluring. The Erpacrife is extremely creamy, with a great yeast-like note that compliments the nutty, toasty flavor of the caviar. Still, the subtle citrus and fruit notes counter and complement the salty flavor of the sea.
4) For the holiday dinner party, Kaluga Huso Hybrid: This remarkable farm-raised hybrid caviar is cross-bred from Huso Dauricus and Acipenser Schrencki sturgeons. The resulting large and glossy grains range in color from dark gray to light golden green. It's a blissful marriage of Kaluga and Shassetra—creamy, buttery, nutty with that fabulous, famous burst of the sea.
Pair with Bérêche et Fils Brut Reserve Champagne: Priced the same as its Veuve Cliquot counterpart, this Brut Reserve Champagne is triple the quality. It is creamier, with a nice "lemon brioche" note from the yeast, and an overall more elegant champagne. It does justice to the bold and unique Kaluga Huso Hybrid.
5) For the time saver, Caviar Powder: Petrossian Caviar Powder is a new, one-of-a-kind creation—dried caviar that captures caviar's sensational taste. The unique mill design allows you to either sprinkle full beads or grind the pearls for a more subtle flavor. Add the taste of caviar to eggs, potatoes, pasta, seafood, and more.
Pair it with Tio Pepe Fino Sherry: The driest and lightest of its brand family, grown in Jerez by the sea. It's generally the best pairing for raw tuna and anchovies, so naturally, pairs incredibly well with a more intense caviar. Sherry's inherent hints of almond will draw out the nuttiness from that hint of caviar powder.
Pictured: Olympia Le-Tan embroidered Caviar tin handbag, olympialetan.com.
Kristen Bateman is a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Her first fashion article was published in Vogue Italia during her junior year of high school. Since then, she has interned and contributed to WWD, Glamour, Lucky, i-D, Marie Claire and more. She created and writes the #ChicEats column and covers fashion and culture for Bazaar. When not writing, she follows the latest runway collections, dyes her hair to match her mood, and practices her Italian in hopes of scoring 90% off Prada at the Tuscan outlets. She loves vintage shopping, dessert and cats.
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