Dry white wine: what to cook with it

Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Bright, garlicky, and quick — the acidity in the wine mirrors the lemon exactly.

15 minutes · serves 2 · about 320 kcal, 30 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate and 18 g fat per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

• 400g raw shrimp
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon
• 20g butter
• handful parsley

Method

1. Sauté the sliced garlic in butter until fragrant, not browned. (2 min)
2. Add the shrimp and cook until just pink, about 3-4 minutes. (4 min)
3. Squeeze in lemon juice and toss through chopped parsley. (2 min)

Serving: Pile the shrimp loosely in a shallow bowl with the garlicky lemon butter spooned over, and a lemon wedge on the side.

Why it works with this wine: High acidity in a dry white does the same job as the lemon on the plate — it lifts the shrimp instead of weighing it down.

Goat Cheese and Herb Salad

A tangy, herby salad that plays directly into the wine's own sharpness.

15 minutes · serves 2 · about 380 kcal, 14 g protein, 18 g carbohydrate and 28 g fat per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

• 120g soft goat cheese
• 150g mixed salad leaves
• 40g walnuts
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Toast the walnuts lightly in a dry pan. (3 min)
2. Whisk olive oil with a little honey and lemon for the dressing. (3 min)
3. Toss the leaves in the dressing. (2 min)
4. Crumble the goat cheese and scatter the walnuts over the top. (2 min)

Serving: Mound the dressed leaves loosely on a plate, crumble the goat cheese over unevenly, and finish with the toasted walnuts.

Why it works with this wine: Goat cheese has its own natural tang, which sits right alongside a dry white's acidity instead of competing with it.

Ceviche with Lime and Chili

Raw fish cured in citrus needs a wine with matching acidity, not richness.

20 minutes · serves 2 · about 260 kcal, 28 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate and 6 g fat per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

• 300g very fresh white fish
• 4 limes
• half red onion
• 1 red chili
• handful coriander

Method

1. Dice the fish into small, even cubes. (5 min)
2. Cover with fresh lime juice and refrigerate until it turns opaque. (15 min)
3. Finely slice the onion and chili. (3 min)
4. Toss everything together with chopped coriander just before serving. (2 min)

Serving: Serve chilled in a shallow bowl or glass, with the marinade spooned over and a few coriander leaves on top.

Why it works with this wine: Ceviche is built almost entirely on acidity, so a rich or oaky wine would clash — a sharp dry white matches its energy instead.

Grilled White Fish with Salsa Verde

A simple, clean dish that lets the wine's freshness do the work.

20 minutes · serves 2 · about 380 kcal, 36 g protein, 4 g carbohydrate and 22 g fat per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

• 2 white fish fillets
• large handful parsley
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 fillet, optional anchovy
• 1 lemon

Method

1. Blitz or finely chop parsley, capers, and anchovy with olive oil and lemon juice for the salsa verde. (6 min)
2. Season the fish and grill or pan-fry until just cooked through. (8 min)
3. Rest briefly. (2 min)
4. Spoon the salsa verde over just before serving. (1 min)

Serving: Set the fish simply on the plate and spoon the bright green salsa verde generously over the top, letting it pool slightly.

Why it works with this wine: The herby, sharp salsa verde is close in character to the wine itself, so the dish and the glass read as one flavor.

Steamed Mussels in White Wine Broth

Cooking directly in a splash of the same wine style ties the dish and the glass together.

20 minutes · serves 2 · about 420 kcal, 30 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate and 22 g fat per serving (estimate)

Ingredients

• 1kg mussels
• 150ml white wine
• 1 shallot
• 60ml cream
• handful parsley

Method

1. Clean the mussels, discarding any that stay open when tapped. (10 min)
2. Soften the chopped shallot in a large pot. (3 min)
3. Add the wine and mussels, cover, and steam until they open. (5 min)
4. Stir in cream and chopped parsley to finish the broth. (2 min)

Serving: Pile the mussels into a wide bowl, pour the broth generously over them, and serve with bread for the leftover liquid.

Why it works with this wine: Cooking the mussels in the same style of wine you're drinking is one of the most direct pairings there is — the broth and the glass match exactly.

Galicia, Spain

Albariño and the Atlantic coast, in Spain’s green northwest

Galicia sits in Spain's far northwest, wetter and greener than the rest of the country, with the Atlantic doing most of the work shaping both the food and the wine. Rías Baixas, its best-known wine area, is built almost entirely around Albariño, a white grape that thrives on the coast's cool, damp climate.

This is fishing country as much as wine country. Small ports land seafood daily, and the local style of eating — grilled octopus, oysters, mussels, whatever came in that morning — grew up alongside a wine built to go with exactly that.

Santiago de Compostela makes a good base, with the vineyards and coastal towns of the Rías Baixas a short drive away. It's a quieter, less touristed trip than most of Spain's better-known wine regions.

In one line: A coastal wine region that still feels like a well-kept secret.

If you cannot travel there: Look for Albariño. Anything from the sea works — mussels, shrimp, a simple grilled white fish.

New Zealand — Marlborough

The loudest, zestiest Sauvignon Blanc on earth

Marlborough, at the top of New Zealand's South Island, built the country's entire wine reputation on one grape: Sauvignon Blanc, made here sharper and more intensely aromatic than almost anywhere else attempts it.

The region is compact and flat, which makes it one of the easiest wine areas in the world to get around by bike, with cellar doors spread along quiet roads and mountains on the skyline nearly everywhere you look.

Blenheim is the practical base, with most of the well-known wineries within a short ride or drive.

In one line: A wine style so distinctive it single-handedly built a country's reputation.

If you cannot travel there: Look for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. Lemony, garlicky shrimp or a simple goat cheese salad both play to its sharpness.

Chablis, France

Chardonnay, but nothing like the buttery kind

Chablis sits apart from the rest of Burgundy, both geographically and in style — the same Chardonnay grape, but grown on cooler, chalkier soil that produces something lean, flinty, and completely unlike the rich, oaked Chardonnay most people picture.

It's a small town with an outsized wine reputation, easy to see properly in a single day, with most of the best vineyards visible from the town itself on the surrounding slopes.

It works well as a day trip from Paris, or as a stop on a longer route through Burgundy further south.

In one line: The Chardonnay that convinces people who think they don't like Chardonnay.

If you cannot travel there: Look for Chablis (labeled by name, not grape). Steamed mussels or lemon garlic shrimp both match its sharpness.

Santorini, Greece

Volcanic-soil Assyrtiko, grown in wind-woven vine baskets

Santorini's vineyards are unlike anywhere else in the world: vines woven into low, basket-like coils close to the ground to survive the island's fierce winds, growing in volcanic soil left over from one of history's largest eruptions. The result, mostly the Assyrtiko grape, is a startlingly mineral, high-acid white.

The wine and the scenery are equally famous here, which makes Santorini one of the few wine regions that's also a genuine bucket-list travel destination on its own merits.

Most wineries are clustered near Pyrgos and Megalochori, both a short drive from the more famous clifftop towns of Oia and Fira.

In one line: A wine that could only be made in exactly this one place, grown in a landscape unlike anywhere else.

If you cannot travel there: Look for Assyrtiko. Ceviche or a simple grilled white fish both match its sharp, mineral edge.