World is your oysters with white or sparkling
Print Edition
Isacs is the founder and CEO of EnjoyGourmet, a leading gourmet digital (www.enjoygourmet.com.cn) and print media company in China. He has authored over a dozen wine and food books including the awarded ISACS Guides and other gourmet books and is a wine consultant to governments, wine regions and organizations. He also hosts wine events for leading organizations and companies throughout China. Contact John via jcolumn@enjoygourmet.com.
Parasitic relationships have existed as long as life on this planet. The feature topic of today鈥檚 iDEAL section may not sound particularly appetizing but parasites are an essential fact of nature, a fact that more palatable when popular parasitic hosts are appropriately paired with wine. Oysters attract both parasites and gourmets alike, but it鈥檚 when oysters meet wine that one of the culinary world鈥檚 most symbiotic relationships happens.
Many still believe the consumption of oysters, especially served raw, is for the brave hearted. Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift once said: 鈥淗e was a bold man that first ate an oyster.鈥 In reality, raw oysters fresh off the beach were consumed by our pre-Homo sapien ancestors millions of years ago. Today almost every coastal nation produces and consumes these marvelous mollusks and there鈥檚 no shortage of reasons why.
Oysters are delicious whether eaten raw on the half shell or cooked in a plethora of ways, including steamed, broiled, baked, stir-fried, deep-fried, smoked, boiled, stewed, pickled or even served as a drink.
Oysters are also quite healthy with abundant amounts of zinc, iron and calcium as well as Vitamin A and B.
They are naturally low in calories and high in protein. Many consider oysters to be an aphrodisiac. Best of all, oysters are wonderful companions to wine.
The best wines to pair with raw oysters are acidic sparkling or white wines like no dosage Champagne, Brut Franciacorta and Prosecco sparklers and young Sauvignon Blanc or unoaked Chardonnay whites. All are fine companions to oysters, but personally I prefer an often-overlooked wine from France.
Gourmets are fond of saying that the best wines for raw oysters are clean and lean, in other words exceedingly dry with focus. In the world of wine, nothing does lean as well as Muscadet. Additionally, the sea-borne minerality of Muscadet whites beautifully parallels the briny flavor of oysters.
Wine lovers around the world are looking for something different, something that pairs nicely with raw oysters and other raw or lightly cooked seafood. Muscadet offers a wonderful alternative at affordable prices. A good bottle of Muscadet is usually about half the price of comparable Sancerre or Pouilly-Fume wines. But challenges still exist.
First there鈥檚 the grape Mellon de Bourgogne, a variety that as the name suggests originated then disappeared from Burgundy. This grape can easily make bland and insipid wines, but in the hands of a skilled winemaker results can be unforgettably distinctive. One secret is aging on the lees or sur lie as they call it in France. This means the wine stays in contact with the post-fermentation dead yeast cells. The interaction between the lees, or dead yeast cells, over a period of time bestows greater flavor intensity and complexity to the wine. Most good Muscadet wines use this technique.
The inconsistent quality of Muscadet wines means it鈥檚 critical to choose the right producer.
Much more so than most other styles of French wines, when choosing a Muscadet you must be producer selective. Recommended producers include Domaine de Begrolles, Chateau de la Ragotiere, Domaine de L鈥橢cu, Chateau La Gravelle and Chereau-Carre.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
