Pairing Wine With Sea Cucumbers

Sea Cucumbers are a seafood which can be eaten raw, pickled or fried, having a slippery, gelatinous texture and taste of seawater which some say tastes like seaweed. It is usually infused with flavors from other ingredients such as meats, seafoods and spices. Sometimes Sea Cucumbers are often combined with produce like Chinese cabbage, winter melon, and shiitake mushrooms.

Sea Cucumbers are seen as a delicacy because of their high nutritious benefits of being rich in protein and super high in antioxidants and collagen. Sea Cucumber is popular in Asian cuisine so it is cooked/ added with those flavors in mind!

Wine Characteristics To Pair With Sea Cucumbers

Characteristic	Detail
Sweetness	Off Dry – Dry
Acidity	High
Tannins	Low
Body	Low
Notes	Lemon, Lime, Pear, Pomegranate, Sour Cherry

Best White Wine To Pair With Sea Cucumbers

Sea Cucumber has a delicate, gelatinous texture. So a white wine with a bright acidity and mineral accent will enhance the taste of the ocean, while simultaneously cleaning the fatty texture from your palate for you to enjoy it all over again!

Chenin Blanc

Chenin Blanc is a classic from the Loire Valley in France, it is full of floral and honey aromas, with apple-like flavors and good zippy acidity. A young fresh Chenin Blanc pairs wonderfully with light seafood dishes such a Sea Cucumber; the minerality in the wine matches the dish and elevates the fruit components in the wine which makes it a perfect match.

Riesling

Sea Cucumber pairs wonderfully well with Riesling along with many other seafood dishes. Riesling offers a crisp, acidic, dry wine with floral and citrus notes which is used as an almost palate cleanser. Sea Cucumber in an Asian style marinade pairs wonderfully well with an off-dry riesling, as the small amount of residual sugar counteracts the heat from the chili and expresses a more fruitful wine.

Torrontes

Torrontes is an aromatic white wine that originated in Argentina, South America. It is such a good match with Asian dishes, due to its sweet floral aromas of rose petals and flavors of white peach and lemon zest. Sea Cucumbers in a marinade of Asian flavors pairs beautifully with Torrentes, quite similar to Riesling.

Best Red Wine To Pair With Sea Cucumbers

Red wines are tricky to pair with the delicate flavors of sea cucumber. This is because tannins can be far too harsh and overpowering. However reds with a lighter style to them and delicate tannins can be a lovely pairings with Sea Urchin!

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is an exception to the white wine rule to pair with Sea Cucumber. Unlike most reds, Beaujolais is fresh and delicate, you’ll notice notes of berries and cherries with a pleasant earthiness undertone. It is also high in acidity and has very low tannins so it’s great to pair with Sea Cucumber! This wine will also cleanse the palate but won’t cover up the Sea Cucumbers natural flavor!

Best Wines To Pair With Sea Cucumbers

As Sea Cucumber’s main flavor profile is salty and bitter there are a few wines which just cancel out straight away; which are highly tannic wines. Wines which will pair well will need to handle bitterness. A perfect pair with Sea Cucumber will be a white wine with body, high acid and ripe fruit; however there are some light reds with high acidity and low- medium tannin levels, which complement the Sea Cucumber as a dish!