Oysters and white wine: Winter is a fine time
White wine in winter? Indeed. If you want to enjoy this season’s oysters, match them with these perfect whites.
Winter brings its challenges. For me it never feels like white wine weather except … the winter chills herald prime season for oysters, when all their delicious briny, salty goodness is at its peak.
With oysters, great care must be taken in choosing the appropriate wine: serve anything with oak, and the conversation between the wine and the mollusc becomes downright rude. Here are some classic matches aimed at avoiding such gastronomic punch-ups.
2015 Domaine de la Malone Picpoul de Pinet About $23. Well this is embarrassing … having consumed more than my fair share of the wines of France across the past 35 years, this is the first example of picpoul de pinet (the grape, and the place in Languedoc) I’ve tried. One of the two varieties that make Noilly Prat vermouth, this has an appealing fresh, complex bouquet of flowers, with a background note of acacia. Bracing acid attack on entry races through the palate and drives the stony, briny characters to a long and bone-dry finish. Would also work brilliantly with a good bouillabaisse or moules marinieres where garlic features prominently. Great value, drink often. heartandsoil.com.au
2014 Billaud-Simon Chablis AC About $49. From one of my favourite chablis producers and from the excellent 14 vintage, this villages wine punches way above its weight. Crisp bouquet, steely mineral characters, touch of flowers, very lifted and strong. With all the tension and nerviness of a debutant federal politician, the fruit-driven mineral palate coats long, beautifully integrated acidity, giving shape and form to the muscular and powerfully concentrated palate. Not overly complex but very satisfying. Exceptional for a villages wine. euanmckay.com.au
Dampt Freres Chablis Les Fourneaux Premier Cru About $51 pre-arrival. From the stunning 2014 vintage, Fourneaux is one of the seldom-seen 89 premier cru chablis climats. Oyster shells, white flowers and characters of fresh mountain lake air combine to coolly tantalise the senses. The initial palate impression is of intensely racy fruit, with lean, muscular, mineral-driven flavours that echo the bouquet. The acidity runs seamlessly from start to finish with ample fruit flavours lingering on the aftertaste. Silly good value for this quality. grandmillesime.com.au
2014 Jean Collet Chablis Premier Cru Montee de Tonnerre About $55 pre-arrival. Cooked oysters aren’t everyone’s cup of earl grey but they certainly do it for me; oysters mornay, florentine and so on, when done expertly, are things of beauty. That said, the wine you should serve is quite different from that which pairs with les huitres naturel. From the best premier cru vineyard in Chablis, this presents stylistically as a hypothetical blend of chablis and some steelier white burgundy. Exhibiting a smidgen of oak maturation without being oaky, the nose is well rounded, lively and complex, leading to characters and flavours on the palate that reflect the mouth-feel and satisfaction of leaner, crisper white burgundy, and finishing with a noted aromatic uptick. grandmillesime.com.au
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