The Cantonese dish of fried fish with sweet corn sauce lets the two main ingredients play off each other. The corn adds sweetness to the fish while the fish gives succulence to the corn, and the crisp fish contrasts nicely with the sauce's creamy texture and tasty kernels. The best wine to serve with this needs to sit on the fence: too much freshness, as in riesling or sauvignon blanc, will be overwhelmed by the fish and corn, but if the wine has too much depth, the lightness of the dish will be compromised.
Hans Herzog Viognier 2007, Marlborough, New Zealand
Viognier is a lovely grape and versatile food wine. Some viogniers can be intense and full-on, while others are light and frivolous. This Herzog is perfect, with loads of evolved aromatics that are honest and exotic. The added oak barrel influence gives the wine more depth and width. It is suitable with many dishes, from poached salmon to fried garoupa with sweet corn sauce. The matured grape aromatics match the sweet corn, while the rounded palate of the viognier gives the combination a silky, smooth platform to glide on. The lightly sweet alcohol brings balance; don't serve the wine too cold or its characteristics will be missed. Try this also with corn on the cob with salted butter - the wine and corn melt into each other.
Available from HK$286 from Wine'n'Things (tel: 2873 5733)
Waimea Pinot Gris 2006, Nelson, New Zealand
It's not difficult to make a full-bodied pinot gris, but to extract all the aromatics from the grapes is substantially more difficult. This wine has tones of light spice and white fruits that are a little like viognier, backed up by a lovely almond milk-like texture. This is a perfect match with fish with corn sauce. The intense, fruity wine gives the sauce new direction and flavour width. The wine's plentiful natural acidity helps lift the corn and crunchy fish. The most outstanding feature of the combination reveals itself after a couple of mouthfuls, when the two integrate seamlessly.