Wine with

Wine with oysters

An oyster is salty, cold and alive. Whatever you drink with it has to respect all three, and most wine does not. Oak, ripe fruit and alcohol turn a Fine de Claire into a fish finger. You want acidity, salt and as little decoration as possible.

Three styles that work

  1. 1

    Manzanilla

    Few wines taste this directly of the sea. Manzanilla ages under flor in Sanlúcar, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and picks up a saline edge there that does not drown an oyster but doubles it. Serve ice cold, small glasses, finish the bottle within a week.

  2. 2

    Blanc de Blancs, ideally Brut Nature

    Chardonnay on chalk, with no dosage. The classic answer, and rightly so: the acidity cuts through the oyster's richness and the mousse rinses away the saline finish. Watch the dosage. A Brut carrying 10 grams of sugar suddenly makes the oyster taste metallic; Extra Brut or Brut Nature does not.

  3. 3

    Muscadet sur lie

    The cheapest good answer. Melon de Bourgogne from the mouth of the Loire, aged on its lees, low in alcohol and taut with acidity. Producers such as La Mauguit now make Muscadet with a depth that was unthinkable ten years ago. For twelve euros you drink better here than with a thirty-euro Sancerre.

Without alcohol

Dry alcohol-free sparkling

Most alcohol-free wine is too sweet for an oyster. Look for a sparkling with under 5 grams of sugar and real acidity; they exist now. My comparison of dry alcohol-free sparklers tells you which.

Frequently asked questions

Does red wine go with oysters?

No. Tannin and the iodine in an oyster together produce a metallic taste. If you insist on red, take a light, chilled Loire red with no oak, but you are drinking against the oyster, not with it.

What temperature for wine with oysters?

Cold, 6 to 8 degrees. The oyster sits on ice; a wine at 12 degrees feels lukewarm next to it. Manzanilla can even come out of the freezer if it was only in there for fifteen minutes.

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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