I’ve read a number of posts here over the years recommending Sauternes with oysters. Haven’t tried it yet though.
Two great under the radar sweet wine pairings are oysters and Sauternes and aged Auslese and highly marbled/aged beef.
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I have-worth trying once, particularly with the classic pairing of little peppery sausages, but ultimately weird. It was common in the days when most Sauternes vintages didn’t produce wines with much if any sweetness.
I love engraved stemware!
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Champagne is the correct answer, of course, but I am surprised there has been no mention of dry Riesling. I have been pairing assorted Grosses Gewachs with oysters on the half shell almost weekly for the past few months. It doesn’t just work, it’s magic.
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Riseling trocken was mentioned a long time ago…
Hunker down!
Good luck.
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- Any Louis Michel 1er Cru Chablis.
- Blanc de Blanc Champagne; preferably Pol Roger or Charles Heidsieck.
Sec chenin blanc having no, or little, MLF or oak in the winemaking.
Many of the farmed oysters are triploid hybrids and are sterile, therefore can be eaten during any month of the year.
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Here is a good example of the difference between and overlap of “what I like” and “what’s a good pairing.”
Muscadet and oysters is an excellent pairing, in my mind. Works on every level, great synergy, good mutual support. I’ve had that pairing many times and absolutely agree it works very well. But I also just don’t really like muscadet. I find it boring, even the best and with proper age. I don’t find it repugnant, it’s totally fine, just not exciting to me. So the only time I end up with oysters and muscadet is when something else I like more, that also works, isn’t on offer. I would choose a good pairing with a wine that isn’t my favorite over a “bad” pairing with a wine I like a lot. Because a good pairing for me trumps preferences. I know others in the eat-what-you-like-and-drink-what-you-like camp feel the exact opposite. That’s fine, too.
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I totally agree with you that Muscadet is great for oysters. Loire whites with the Western Loire Melon and also Pouilly-Fumé are definitely my favorite choices for the Pacific style of meater and less briney oysters.
For the Atlantic style which seem to be leaner and brinier, I love a wine that can stand up to the intensity and contrast with some sweetness. Sticking in Loire, Huet’s Demi-Sec is lovely for that.
Well you have my ‘Sancerre’ envy for your enviable predicament, but I always opt for simple white without pretension to feature the oysters thesekves.
One of my treasured personal memories is getting up at 7 AM in France and driving to the coast at Marennes to have a live oyster breakfast - a couple of dozen per person with a bottle of a simple local white wine. We got to sample all the kinds of oysters they offered and there was no one else there yet. The guy at the stand probably thought that Canadians were a daft bunch (we had to do it first thing in the AM as we had plans to the North at a Cognac producer for the later morning)…
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Me too. One of my most enjoyable wines ever with freshly shucked oysters was a simple and very inexpensive Gros Plant. Of course, the oysters and the setting made a big contribution.
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Thanks for this Larry. Picked up 100 giant oysters from Harris Seafood Company in Kent Narrows, MD and have now gone through two bottles of Piquepoul with them
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Chenin, champs
a) Picpoul de Pinet
b) Chablis
c) lots of other things that work really well with oysters
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I would say any dry white, preferably with steely and/or chalky characteristics. My first thought is usually Muscadet, but lots of the above are also great
But now I want to try oysters with Climens. I never would have considered it.
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This feels sort of like “what wine goes with roasted chicken” or “what wine goes with salmon,” in that there is a decently large category of wines which go well with it, and then within that category, you can pretty safely go with what kind of wine you like and/or what is available to you then.
By “decently large category,” I mean the kinds of wines discussed in this thread, I don’t mean that drinking Barolo with raw oysters is a good pairing.