Wine pairing for sauteed mackerel with warm potato-chorizo salad

[Kelly]

I never cook mackerel -- hence I've no clue what might work best with it -- but I had a craving today.

Mackerel fillets simply seasoned with salt, pepper and a bit of lemon zest, pan-seared. Warm salad of potatoes, red onion and Spanish chorizo. Sprinkle a bit of coriander atop.

I am at a loss -- can any oenophile 'hounds come to the rescue?

Thank you!

[Monica]

i love grilled mackerel. yumm...but boy, does it stink up the house after. lol

[Kelly]

Thank you so much for your suggestions! I must now shamefacedly confess that I didn't follow any of them, simply because I didn't have any of the options in my cellar and a howling child put a damper on my plans for a wine store run. The dish itself was yummy enough to warrant a repeat, at which time I plan to do a side-by-side Verdejo and Txakoli comparison.

I've not had the metallic issue with red wine and mackerel, so I ended up opening a 2003 L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah (don't ask me how a Mexican wine made it over to Belgium). I wouldn't say it added anything to the dish, but it wasn't a disaster, with a decent combination of berry fruit and and still lively tannins.

I am consoling myself with a glass of 1994 Domaine Weinbach Gewurz Vendange Tardives, which I opened up a week ago and which is just getting lovelier and lovelier in the glass. :o)

[Brad Ballinger]

Albarino.

[carswell]

To my palate, mackerel makes red wine taste metallic (or maybe it's the other way around). With your preparation, the lemon only compounds the problem. I'd go for a full-throttle Verdejo or Verdejo-Sauvignon Blanc blend, preferably unoaked and preferably from Rueda.

[Melanie Wong]

Yes, and cilantro/coriander also makes red wines taste metallic. Love the idea of Verdejo or blended with SB. A high acid white like Txakoli would also be good to cut through the natural oiliness of the fish and the pork fat.

[ChefJune]

<Yes, and cilantro/coriander also makes red wines taste metallic>

Imho, cilantro makes everything taste terrible. :-O

[ChefJune]

That sounds so good! What time is dinner?

With that combination, you have quite a range of choices. I think a fuller-bodied Spanish Rosado would be really delicious with that dish. Or you could do a fruitier blend such as Marietta Cellars' Old Vine Red or Red Truck. A Fleurie (cru Beaujolais) would work, as well.