OYSTERS & WINE

Sex in a shell!  Glistening, salty oysters, evocative of nautical delights - smiling at you provocatively from their freshly-severed shells.   You either love ’em or hate ’em.  I love them - and I love wine - and recently had the opportunity to evaluate the symbiosis between various varieties of these two tasty treats.

Ten oyster & wine enthusiasts joined me at Jimmy G’s Oyster Bar in the foodie end of Adelaide St, Brisbane, and we diligently worked our way through the combinations of 9 reputedly oyster-friendly wines and 3 varieties of super-fresh oysters.  This sort of event is often dreamed about but when you get down to it, the logistics demand considerable structure and attention.  Nadine of Jimmy G’s rolled out the event brilliantly, keeping up the platters of oysters as needed to match our wine consumption - or was it the other way around? - with plenty of bread and water to clean the palate for the more serious digestibles.  Thanks to Jimmy G’s for a great night.

The oysters selected for our evaluation were:

Tasmanian Pacifics - salty, sweet and creamy;

South Australian Pacifics - creamier and fleshier than their Tassie relatives; and

Sydney Rocks from Nambucca Heads - salty, clean and crisp;

- au naturel, of course.

The wines, including a fair input of European style, were

1 Muscadet                        Chateau du Coing 2002

2 Soave                                 Fattori & Graney Classico Superiore 2001

3 Chablis                             Louis Michel 2001

4 Semillon                           Tyrrell’s Vat 1 2003

5 Bordeaux Blanc              Mouton-Cadet 2002

6 Sauvignon Blanc             Palliser Estate Martinborough 2003

7 Riesling (Australian)      Mesh 2003

8 Riesling (Alsace)              Domaine Jean Luc Mader 2000

9 Pinot Gris                            Trimbach Reserve 2000

Thanks to Jeffrey Power of  Cellar-One at Brighton (Brisbane) for supplying most of the imported wines.

We proceeded through wine 1 and oyster A, B & C; wine 2 and oyster A, B & C; etc., scoring each combination out of 10 and discussing and noting the findings.  Tabling the scores gave me an empirical view of which wine worked with which oyster, as well as demonstrating the spread and diversity of opinions.  The average scores below may appear harsh, but this just reflects critical comparative judging and the fact that what works for someone certainly does not work for everyone.  Averaging better than 6.5 in this hard school is actually pretty good and over 7 is very good.  This tough panel may go on to the next Olympic diving and gymnastics judging.

We had no trouble agreeing that the oysters were all beautifully fresh and tasty and that the wines were delightful in isolation.  Apart from one corked bottle replaced by a sub, the wines opened beautifully.  Seriously judging all the combinations, though, is not that easy!  Not everybody completed the full course - however your dedicated scribe was one that did, with considerable enthusiasm. 

I’d always suspected that the combinations of the acute yet subtle flavours of oysters and white wines produce different reactions on different palates.  We got that.  In some cases, there were consistent reactions across the group with everyone in a relatively narrow range of 6 to 8.  In others, we had a wide spread of scores - ranging in some brackets from 3 to 9.  I’d say that the diverse opinions were prevalent in the most piquant edgy flavour combinations - which some loved and some hated.  I noted striking differences in the same judges’ ratings of the same wine with the two types of Pacific oysters, confirming that Pacific oysters from different regions have their own quite distinct flavours. 

However, we pinpointed which combinations worked best for the group and for us individually, and had a great time doing it.  You might agree with our conclusions?  Or you might want to keep searching for your perfect match - it’s a great treasure hunt.

Scores below are the average across the group for the combination of wine and oyster.

Muscadet

Tas Pacific  6.3  Some supporters but several of us, including me, thought that the oyster dominated the wine producing a slightly hard metallic taste.

SA Pacific  7.6  Big difference with the creamier oyster, perhaps surprisingly, attaining the highest average score on the night.  Most of the group enthused about the lift provided by the muscadet and found an exceptional balance of complementary flavours.

Sydney rock  7.3  Very wide range of opinions but overall second-highest average score.  Supporters found an exquisite flavour match; the minority detractors thought the oyster removed some of the wine’s sweetness.

Soave

Tas Pacific  7.1  This worked well for everyone.  Balance of flavour and texture.  Citrus drive of the wine cut through the creamy oyster, producing a satisfying lingering finish.

SA Pacific  6.3  One person loved it, most didn’t.  Oyster overpowered the wine, making it seem excessively sweet.

Sydney rock  6.5  General agreement that this was an interesting but not brilliant combination.  Oyster accentuated acid in the wine, causing a slight drying effect.

Chablis

Tas Pacific  6.9  A good texture match, well-liked by most.  I thought the wine didn’t quite get up to the oyster’s sweetness.  Conversely some thought the lemony flavour of the wine overran the oyster, but not to a displeasing extent.

SA Pacific  7.2  Most rated very highly - lemon and cream in beautiful harmony.  The detractor (me!) found a cancelling rather than enhancing effect - I might have to try another dozen.

Sydney rock  7.1  Oyster narrowly won the battle here, stripping some flavour out of the wine.  However the result was still pleasing to most, finding lemon and cream in abundant harmony.

Semillon

Tas Pacific  6.1  Two judges didn’t like this, commenting that the wine was too light and the oyster too dominant.  Most thought it OK but not exciting.  It worked very well for me.

SA Pacific  6.4  Some found an excellent match here, with the clean interplay of fresh lime from the wine meeting the creamy oyster on equal terms.  However most were not overly excited.

Sydney rock  6.8  Well received but some found the oyster dominating.  Several, including me, found the classic cutting effect of the wine’s acid revealing the straight- out-of-the-ocean fresh taste of the oyster.

Bordeaux blanc

Tas Pacific  7.1  Consistent ratings across the board.  The firm structure of the wine stood up well to the oyster, providing a contented balance.  Not really exhilarating, but pleasingly reliable and satisfying.

SA Pacific  6.8  Very similar to the other pacific, except that the oyster curtailed the finish of the wine somewhat.  Good safe pairing.

Sydney rock  6.1  Some of us found the oyster dominating here.  Interesting, as the Sydney rock is usually thought to be more delicate.  The extra saltiness seemed to strain the wine.

Sauvignon blanc

Tas Pacific  7.1  Some commented that this wine was too ripe and short on acid for oysters.  However it worked well with this oyster in a different way to the other combinations.  Pineapple flavours came to the fore, giving a pleasant tropical island oyster-eating impression.  Very interesting.

SA Pacific  6.3  The stronger of the pacifics seemed to be at odds with the wine, resulting in herbaceous earthy sensations.  Interesting but certainly not to everybody’s liking.

Sydney rock  6.2  The diversity of flavours here produced the widest range of opinions.  Some found it unacceptable, I found it bland and disengaging, but another got past the initial dominance of the wine to claim accentuated richness in the oyster.  This combination seemed to be the most profound personal palate preference.

Australian Riesling

Tas Pacific  6.8  A consistent rater, all within 2 points.  Pretty good but not quite enough acid to promote the oyster’s finer points.  Wine dominated rather than married the oyster, but the alternating flavour sensations were pleasing.

SA Pacific  6.9  Also consistently good ratings.  The fleshier SA pacific stood up to the strong citrus characters of the wine somewhat better, giving a better balance and accentuating the oyster’s richness.

Sydney rock  7.0  The forum generally appreciated the classic lemon and seafood union, accentuating each other and forming strong lingering tastes.  I wasn’t convinced, finding the wine just too full on for the comparatively delicate oyster.

Alsace Riesling

Tas Pacific  5.9  The lowest average rating in the tasting, but still with a couple of supporters.  For most of us, the power and grip of the wine did nothing to enhance the oyster - poles apart in flavour and texture.

SA Pacific  7.0  As with the Aussie riesling, the fleshier SA pacific handled the sharpness of the wine somewhat better, showing off its creamy texture. 

Sydney rock  6.1  Most were reasonably happy with this combination.  I found that the wine didn’t clean the oyster but produced a somewhat astringent edge accentuating the briny aspect.

Pinot Gris

Tas Pacific  6.3  Wonderful wine, but couldn’t quite cut the oysters.  They were on par for texture, but on a different course for flavour.  I was fascinated by the disparity of the wonderful flavours of both wine and oyster, and actually enjoyed the contrast.  However another judge could not stand it at all.

SA Pacific  6.7  As above, two separate joys rather than a combination, but the stronger oyster shone a little more here.

Sydney rock  6.7  Again, contrast rather than harmony, but in an exciting way.  Sort of like a Picasso painting of a beautiful girl - you appreciate what you’re viewing but wonder if she was better in the natural state.  (Well, after 27 oyster and wine shots, you get a bit whimsical!)

And the winners on the night were -

Top combination was the Muscadet with SA Pacific.

Second ranking also went to the Muscadet, with Sydney rock.

With Tasmanian Pacific, the Bordeaux blanc rated highest, to our collective surprise.

The Chablis rated highly with all the oysters.

A relatively low rating for Muscadet with Tasmanian pacific reduced the Muscadet’s across the board average to equal first with the Chablis.

The most wine-friendly oyster, narrowly over the other two, was the SA Pacific.

The wines in this tasting made strong statements within their respective styles.  There are many subtleties in play in oyster/wine matching and it would be rash to conclude that you would always get the same results from other wines of the same genre.

Lester and friends reported the results of a similar exercise in Winewise Vol 17 No 3 August 2001.

The most notable divergent result between then and now was the race up the oyster-complementing rankings of the Chateau du Coing Muscadet (1997 used then, 2002 in this round) from an also-ran to a starring role. This is most likely due to the use of a younger wine this time.

We struck some accords with the earlier evaluations -

Chablis proved again to be a classic partner for oysters.

Semillon suited Sydney rocks better than Pacifics.

Fruity Australian rieslings require strong-flavoured oysters.

No surprises there.

Reflecting now on the event, I keep thinking of the marvellous cuisines of our master chefs Tetsuya Wakuda and Cheong Liew, in the sense that their mastery of flavour combinations and juxtaposing surprising ingredients to amalgamate and/or contrast components and enhance the whole result far beyond expectation is just the sort of thing I’m looking for in an oyster and a mouthful of wine, albeit on a simpler stage.  For me personally, the combinations of Muscadet with Sydney rock and Semillon with Sydney rock landed in Tetsuya territory of delicate entwining flavours, while the Pinot Gris with Sydney rock took me to Cheong’s land of contrast and piquant highlight.

Isn’t life grand!  Now if I can talk the editor into an oyster and champagne event......

Cheers.                   

Bob Clancy