The Feast of the Seven Fishes — the Italian-American Christmas Eve tradition built around multiple seafood preparations — is getting an explicit commercial push from Enovation Brands, which is marketing its Gemma di Luna Prosecco DOC as the default wine pairing for the holiday occasion heading into the 2026 season.
The campaign targets both retail buyers and at-home hosts with a simplified message: one wine, multiple species, less complexity at the table. At a $16.99 suggested retail price per 750mL — with a 187mL three-pack at $19.99 — the positioning squarely targets the value-tier sparkling segment while leaning into the growing seafood-forward holiday dining trend.
The Seafood Program
The brand's recommended formats speak directly to current foodservice and retail seafood trends. A so-called "seacuterie" board — a seafood grazing spread built from supermarket sushi, cold shrimp, Italian oil-packed tuna, tinned smoked oysters, sardines, and caviar — requires no cooking and maps cleanly onto the value-added and convenience segments of the retail seafood counter. The format also reflects sustained growth in premium tinned seafood at grocery, a category that has expanded significantly since 2020 as consumers trade up on pantry staples.
For a cooked centerpiece, the brand points to Zuppa di Pesce, a white wine-based Italian fish stew that layers species by cooking time: firm white fish and squid first, followed by bivalves (mussels and clams), then delicate shrimp and scallops last. The sequencing reflects standard multi-species cookery used in foodservice — the same technique applied in professional raw-bar and shellfish programs.
The third format, Lobster Mac and Cheese, is explicitly positioned around pre-cooked or frozen lobster meat, with the release noting that one pound of lobster serves six guests. That yield metric is relevant for operators and home cooks alike, and signals how the dish can stretch a high-cost species — lobster remains among the pricier items at retail — without requiring live product or in-house butchering.
Wine and Shellfish Alignment
From a pairing standpoint, Prosecco's acidity and CO₂ effervescence are a technically defensible match for the brine and fat found across a seven-species spread. Gemma di Luna Prosecco DOC is produced from 100% Glera grapes under DOC rules, at 10.5% ABV, with tasting notes the brand describes as white flowers, lemon peel, peach, lemon curd, and mineral finish. The Extra Dry style — slightly off-dry — provides enough residual sugar to balance the salinity of oysters and smoked fish without overwhelming delicate shellfish.
Lisa Schuster, National Marketing Director for Enovation Brands, framed the effort around democratizing the tradition rather than elevating its formality. "The Feast of the Seven Fishes is about abundance and togetherness — not about creating a complicated dinner party," she said. "You do not need seven courses or to make everything from scratch."
Enovation Brands is the exclusive U.S. importer for Gemma di Luna, and operates within the Italian Wine Brands, S.p.A. portfolio — the world's largest Prosecco producer by volume, which delivered 160 million bottles across 95 countries in 2025. For seafood retailers and specialty grocers building holiday endcap programs, the Feast of the Seven Fishes occasion offers a natural cross-merchandising opportunity, pairing chilled shellfish and tinned seafood with sparkling wine in seasonal displays. Operators running holiday prix-fixe menus with multi-course seafood programs may find the single-wine simplification appealing as a tableside messaging tool as well.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
