Wine with

Wine with mussels

A pot of Zeeland mussels with onion, celery and white wine is the easiest dish for wine there is: the wine is already in it. Take the same style as in the pot, cold, and put the bottle on the table. What you want is acidity, salt and no oak. What you must avoid is anything round and ripe.

Three styles that work

  1. 1

    Muscadet sur lie

    The wine was invented for this dish; Nantes sits on the same coast. Light, saline, with a fine yeastiness that mirrors the cooking liquor. Buy the sur lie from a serious producer and not the cheapest; the difference is three euros and a world.

  2. 2

    Assyrtiko from Santorini

    For those cooking the mussels with garlic, tomato or a splash of ouzo. Assyrtiko is drier and sharper than almost any other white grape, grows on a volcano beside the sea and carries the salinity of a manzanilla without the flor. Dearer than Muscadet, but with a Mediterranean pot the better choice.

  3. 3

    Prosecco or crémant with moules-frites

    Chips alongside call for bubbles: the mousse handles the fat and the salt of both. A dry prosecco, Brut and not Extra Dry, or a crémant de Loire keeps the dish light and the table cheerful. Champagne works too, but the dish does not deserve the outlay.

Without alcohol

Dry alcohol-free sparkling

With mussels, cold and acidity do the work. A dry alcohol-free sparkling delivers both, and the mousse rescues the chips. Do cook the mussels in ordinary white wine or in water with a splash of vinegar; alcohol-free in the pot is a waste.

Frequently asked questions

Which white wine do you cook mussels in?

The same one you drink, but the cheapest version of it. Dry, no oak, no residual sugar. A seven-euro Muscadet is perfect; cooking wine from a carton is not.

Does Sauvignon Blanc go with mussels?

A Loire Sauvignon yes, a New Zealand one no. The tropical aromas of Marlborough fight the saltiness of the mussel; the green, mineral style of Pouilly-Fumé does not.

No scores, but an opinion. The bottles I name I tasted myself; how each reached me is stated at the bottom of every review.

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