How to Pair Wine with Grilled Shrimp

As one of the quickest proteins to grill, shrimp always has a place on the menu at our backyard barbecues and cookouts.

When it comes to finding the best wine to pair with grilled shrimp, it’s important to pay attention to the core ingredients and flavors in your sauce, glaze, or marinade. An herbaceous, earthy dressing will coax out different elements of a glass of Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc than something spicy or smoky might. The wrong pairing can create a bitter aftertaste, or overpower the wine altogether.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all bottle when it comes to grilling season, our favorite wines to pair with grilled shrimp recipes are accessible, affordable, and delicious.

How to pair wine with grilled shrimp and an herb-forward sauce

This easy, flavorful grilled shrimp channels one of our favorite vacation destinations. It’s topped with a simplified version of salmoriglio, a bright green condiment you’ll find in Southern Italy served alongside meat and seafood, and is full of capers, oregano, and garlic.

We suggest pairing this herbaceous, bright sauce it with a zesty California Sauvignon Blanc, which acts a little like a welcome spritz of lemon and helps to emphasize the grated lemon zest in this recipe.

How to pair wine with grilled shrimp and a spicy dressing

With a combination of guajillo and puya chiles, this marinade for butterflied grilled shrimp from 2021 F&W Best New Chef Fermín Núñez packs a punch.

“Before I opened Este, I traveled to Monterrey, Mexico, to visit a friend, and he told me I should go to a place called El Ricas,“ says Núñez. “When the grilled shrimp hit the table, I knew I had to make a version of them at Este. After a few recipe tests, I was able to mimic the flavor of the garlic-and-chile marinade. I named it Camarones El Ricas as a nod to the place that served the best grilled shrimp I’ve ever had in my life.” 

The puya chiles in this marinade add a fruity kick that makes a dry sparkling wine like citrusy Gramona La Cuvée Cava a perfect pairing.

How to pair wine with shrimp and a garlic-forward marinade

Cooking with wine you actually want to drink is a win-win situation: your dish will taste better, and you don’t need to shop for another bottle to pair with dinner.

The simple marinade for this grilled shrimp recipe calls for just three tablespoons of dry white wine, which means you’ll have more than enough leftover for sipping. Opt for a sharp, acidic Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with strong minerality as well as lemon and lime notes, or any one of our other favorite crisp white wines to cook with that also happen to be good enough to drink.

Looking to pair this dish with something other than the bottle you’re using in the marinade? Opt for a dry rosé from Spain.

How to pair wine with grilled shrimp cocktail

Shrimp cocktail is a classic at al fresco dinner parties, and by spending a few minutes on the grill, this iconic appetizer takes on a smoky, charred character that will make everyone wonder — why isn’t all shrimp cocktail grilled?

While the marinade for this recipe is fairly simple, your wine pairing should ultimately be guided by the spicy, smoky sauce, which calls for harissa paste, sun-dried tomatoes, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

For this dish, you can’t go wrong with an approachable and easy-drinking white wine like Vinho Verde.