Food & Wine Pairing
Ingredients and Styles
The two extremes of Sémillon's personality, ranging from dry to sweet, require separate treatment in pairing, although a few dishes can work with both.
For the dry wines, I consider first the richer versions, either mono-varietal or blended with Chardonnay. These, predictably, love seafood: pasta with shrimp, lemon zest, and cream or scallops served with a purée of creamed parsnips. Those with a modicum of oak are lovely with butter, mild mushrooms (chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, and basic button mushrooms), and grains like couscous, farro, or even pilafs with white or wild rice. Textured dishes like savory soufflés, creamy lasagnas and risottos are also good calls. I also like to play off the fruit character that the wine can show. A roast chicken with a savory fig jam or a roast loin of pork with sautéed apples are good examples of this type of pairing. Slow-cooked dishes, like chicken fricassée or a veal stew with spring vegetables, are also nice with this style of wine.
The SSB blends work best if treated like other bright, zippy whites and paired with fresh seafood, appetizers, and composed salads, which let the acidity of the wine highlight the ingredients. At a Western Australian wine tasting I attended, where the focus was on SSBs, I enjoyed a range of dishes, from Southeast Asian spring rolls to raw oysters to goat-cheese crostini.
The intriguing bottle-aged Sémillons from the Hunter Valley deserve special consideration. They can have a distinct toasty, light mineral, and dry honeyed finish. Opt for elements that pick up on the toastiness (gratins, breadcrumb toppings, toasted nuts), a little bit of sweet spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice), and lightly smoked or grilled white meats and poultry, especially those with a sweet-salt glaze (honey mustard, honey and soy, and the like).
Sweet Sémillons and Sémillon blends are a different story entirely. The classic pairing of foie gras with Sauternes or a similar wine does work, as long as the wine's sweetness is not over the top. Opt for late-harvest rather than botrytized examples for successful pairings. Tropical fruit and Sémillon are a lovely combination. Incorporating mango, banana, and cherimoya (custard apple) into a savory preparation can make a nice bridge for a sweet wine. A simple entrée salad of roast chicken, mango, and coconut rice would be a nice pairing with a sweet, but not overly sweet, Sémillon blend.
Most sweet Sémillon lovers, however, will want to pair the wine with desserts. Fruit desserts, especially pears, peaches and figs, are delicious, and those with nuts or streusel toppings work well with oak-aged wines. Finally, picking up on the texture of these wines is always a good approach. Top a dessert with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, serve a small ladle of vanilla-scented crème anglaise alongside a tart wedge, or accompany fruit cookies with a rich, honey-scented mousse, and you'll be a happy camper.
| Wine Style Sugar Level |
Ingredients | Cuisines + Cooking methods |
|---|---|---|
| Dry Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blends with zippy acidity, leaner in the mouth | Seafood: raw briny oysters, and cooked Lettuce and salad greens Green vegetables Prosciutto, salami, other cured meats |
Appetizers that can benefit from a spritz of lemon or acid, such as Southeast Asian spring rolls, raw oysters, goat-cheese crostini Ceviche Grilled fish Composed salads Spanakopita, vegetable pakoras, grilled asparagus, leek and potato soup, vegetable tagines |
| Dry, richer versions, oaked, either mono-varietal or blended with Chardonnay | Butter and cream Mild mushrooms (chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, and basic button mushrooms) White meats Chicken Rich shellfish Fish Grains (couscous, farro, rice) or even pilafs Fruit |
Creamy fish bisque, scaloppine of veal with a light mustard cream Textured dishes like savory soufflés, creamy lasagnas and risottos Pilafs with white rice and wild rice, buttery risotto Use fruit in a savory dish, e.g. roast chicken with a savory fig jam, roast loin of pork with sautéed apples Slow-cooked dishes, such as chicken fricassée or a veal stew with spring vegetables Plank-roast halibut or sea bass |
| Dry bottle-aged Sémillons from the Hunter Valley (Australia) with a toasty, light mineral, and dry honeyed finish | Nuts Bread Sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice) White meats and poultry |
Pick up on the toastiness with gratins, breadcrumb toppings, toasted nuts Incorporate some sweet spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice) Prepare white meats and poultry with a sweet-salt glaze (honey mustard, honey and soy),then grill or lightly smoke |
| Sweeter Sémillons and Sémillon blends, off-dry | Foie gras Tropical fruit |
Plain foie gras -- opt for late-harvest rather than botrytized wine. Incorporate mango, banana, and cherimoya (custard apple) into a savory preparation, e.g. a simple entrée salad of roast chicken, mango, and coconut rice Sweet and sour whole fish Make sure the wine is not overly sweet! |
| Dessert-style Sémillon | Stone fruit and tree fruit Lemons, limes Vanilla Caramel Sweet spices, such as cinnamon, ginger Cheese, especially Roquefort |
Strawberries and cream Cheesecake Butterscotch, caramel, toffee or crème brûlée Stewed fruit Lemon, lime mousse |
Pairing Pointers
Sémillon works well with:
- Rich, textured dishes. Sémillon's waxy texture provides a great backdrop for dishes with buttery and creamy textures. As a wine ages, its texture increases and its acidity generally decreases, so pay attention to the balance. Try a creamy fish bisque, scaloppine or veal with a light mustard cream, or even a buttery risotto of scallops and peas.
- Greens and vegetables. Not all Sémillons work well with produce, but the very popular Australian SSBs are excellent with recipes ranging from spanakopita and vegetable pakoras to grilled asparagus, leek and potato soup, and vegetable tagines.
- Seafood. Although the range of Sémillons is not as vast as the range of seafood, there's usually a Sémillon-based wine for everything from rich shellfish (textured Sémillon or Sem-Chards) to briny oysters (SSBs) to plank-roasted halibut or sea bass (oak-aged examples) to sweet and sour whole fish (a slightly sweeter version).
- Desserts. Sauternes and Sauternes-style wines and other unoaked, late-harvest Sémillons are wonderful with desserts. They work across a range of fruits, especially stone fruit and tree fruit. I noted in the Muscat chapter that my friend Fiona Beckett loves strawberries and cream with Muscat-based dessert wines; they're great with Sauternes as well. For oak-aged wines, good choices are recipes that pick up on the wine's vanilla, caramel, and sweet-spice flavors, as well as dishes featuring butterscotch, caramel, toffee, or crème brûlée.
- Cheeses. The range of styles provides many options in pairing Sémillon with cheese, with few more sublime than the traditional pairing of Sauternes with Roquefort!
Sémillon doesn't work:
- When you pick the wrong one. Obviously, you don't want to pair overtly sweet Sémillons with very savory dishes, but you must be careful with the other interpretations as well. An aged, nutty Sémillon isn't a great match for an Asian chicken salad or Peruvian ceviche.
- With very salty dishes. Sauternes with Roquefort aside, most dry Sémillon-based table wines can't handle excessive salt. Avoid all but the sharpest examples with clams or mussels, chunks of Parmesan cheese, or a pizza with pancetta and sun-dried tomato.
- With red meats. This caveat seems obvious, but it's worth restating. White meats work, and even offal (sweetbreads and Sémillon are fabulous together), but most lamb, aged beef, and venison should be avoided.
- With bitter foods. With the exception of zingy SSBs, most Sémillon and Sémillon blends struggle when matched with dishes containing ingredients like radicchio, endive, and bitter melon.
- With chocolate or mocha. Chocolate is a very difficult pairing with sweet wines, except as a very minor accent to a fruit- or custard-based dessert. It overpowers and dominates the wine. Mocha, with its coffee accents, can work better, but it's still not a perfect match.