Wine with Scallops

Tonight I will be dining on Vietnamese style scallops, from a recipe in "All About Braising".

I'm looking for a wine suggestion. I'm assuming it would best be paired with a white. We prefer a sweeter wine, but all in all are looking for a good match.

We'll most likely pick a bottle up at Whole Foods.

TIA!

There are many possibilities, but if I were just going to Whole Foods, I would most likely grab whatever American or German Riesling that I saw. I tend to favor Washington, Michigan or New York (colder climates) over California. German will cost a bit more but you do get the option of picking the level of sweetness you wish. I usually find the driest level, Kabinett, to be sweet enough, but there are many levels of sweetness above that. If you are not familiar with German classifications, someone at WF will be able to provide some guidance (hopefully). French, Austrian and NZ/Australian Rieslings are probably too dry for this meal if you like sweeter wines.

Washington or even California Pinot Gris is another possibility that could be fun, if you find that.

Enjoy.

consider a sancerre as well.

I always like viogniers with that sort of dish. They have a spiciness that works well with Asian flavors. I agree that pinot gris can work as well.

Thank you for your suggestions.

It was hard to find an American, east coast Riesling. I will keep my eye out at other places.

We ended up getting Seven Daughters, a white wine blend. I thought it complimented the meal well, though overall, I wasn't overly enthused with the taste.

For future reference, I think a Gewurztraminer would be a great match for this dish. Often slightly sweet, with a spiciness that is ideal with a lot of Asian cuisine. I've had great examples from Alsace (the classic), New Zealand, Ontario and Germany.

I have a weird problem with wine and scallops. No matter what wine I drink, it seems to bring out an unpleasant, metallic, fishy taste in the scallop. I'll be eating a plate of perfectly seared, scrumptious, very fresh tasting scallops - enjoying it immensely - and then all of a sudden after a sip of wine, that grossness swarms my taste buds. I've tried at least 5 white wine varietals at this point, including Champagne, and I've pretty much given up. It's a shame, because I love scallops, and I love wine. And, in general, I love wine and food together. A real shame.

How about a Loire Valley Vouvray?

I like Loire Valley whites with seared scallops as well. Among Muscadets, I've particularly enjoyed those from Marc Ollivier (D. Pepiere), Jo Landron (D. Louvetrie), and the Luneau-Papins (various bottlings). Not sure whether these are available in the Chicago area.

I haven't been able to find an authoritative source, but the fishy, metallic taste is apparently associated with tannins. Trying unoaked whites -- whether traditionally made that way or otherwise -- may help to eliminate this problem. The post below discusses the issue in the context of red wine, but the underlying factor is the tannins:
Subzero wine blog