How to Purchase, Store and Serve Caviar
By St. Supéry winery chef, Ron Barber

The holiday season is the perfect time to splurge, and what better way to spoil yourself and your guests than with caviar and St. Supéry wines!

Caviar is essentially salted fish roe – mainly from Sturgeon.  Most imported caviar comes from the Caspian Sea.  Beluga is considered the highest quality and has the largest eggs. Sevruga and Osetra caviar have much smaller eggs, but can still be of very high quality. American caviar is produced from the roe of Paddlefish or American Sturgeon. The roe resembles Sevruga, and the price can be as much as half that of the imports.

Unopened caviar containers should be used within two weeks of purchase and stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator (bottom shelf). Once opened, caviar should be consumed within 2 days.  Just like wine it doesn’t get along well with oxygen.  Freezing caviar is not recommended.

Never use metallic utensils with caviar.  They can impart a metallic taste.  Mother of pearl, bone, or even plastic is best. 

Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving caviar I like to keep it simple.  Toast points with a little sour cream and caviar are wonderful.  Traditional accompaniments are minced onion, chopped hard cooked egg whites and yolks (separately), lemon and sour cream.

My favorite caviar accompaniments are St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc and our newly christened Virtú.