IntoWine asked a panel of wine experts to recommend the best wine to pair with raw or steamed oysters:
News Flash: Champagne goes great with oysters. Oh, wait. You mean that isn’t breaking news? Okay, so everybody knows that one of the most classic food and wine pairings of all times is champagne and oysters. Whether you eat them raw on the half-shell, steamed, grilled, or baked to perfection with bread crumbs and mixed herbs Rockefeller-style, nothing compliments the subtle nuanced flavors of oysters like champagne. One explanation for this lies in the soil in which champagne grapes are grown. The Champagne region of France is famous for its chalk soils, which impart an elegance and finesse unmatched by any other sparkling wine producing region. These soils are actually the geological result of an historic sea basin that left behind numerous minerals and sea fossil deposits when the waters receded. It’s only natural that a sparkling wine that has its roots in the sea goes well with the fruit of the sea. The Champagne region is full of big house names that used to be the benchmark of quality. But recently more and more small growers are bottling their own champagnes rather than just selling their grapes to the big houses. While the quality of these champagnes can be varied, Find Moncuit's Brut Blanc de BlancNichole and Yves Moncuit of Champagne Pierre Moncuit have consistently made champagnes worthy of top accolades. They have vineyard holdings in the same site as some of the most famous names in Champagne, such as Krug and Salon, but their champagnes cost a fraction of the price. Moncuit’s NV Brut Blanc de Blanc is a study in elegance with its racy minerality, and layered flavors of citrus, brioche, and cream. No oak is used, and it’s purity shines through when accompanied by a plateful of oysters. - Kareasa Wilkins, Wine Consultant for Weimax Wines & Spirits in Burlingame, CA and an IntoWine Featured Writer
Find Brégeon MuscadetFew customs remain in our modern world. If any type of custom survives it may well be a wine custom. Now it is a fact. Oysters are the most delicious shellfish and crisp white Andre Brégeon Muscadet Sur Lie pairs amazing with them. Though wildly popular, no food or wine tradition has ever been as successful. Produced from the often ignored Melon de Bourgogne grape, the Brégeon Muscadet is a crisp, flinty-smelling, honey-tasting, Chablis like wine from the western Loire Valley of France. It is an inexpensive ($13) and low alcohol (12%) treat. In fact, oysters and Muscadet pair so well Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant created a festival called Oyster Bliss, an oral orgy of oysters and Andre Brégeon Muscadet. Over 6,000 shucked Hog Island oysters can’t be wrong. Please help preserve a worldwide tradition. - Michael Whitehead, IntoWine Featured Writer
Find Curtis ViognierAh the mighty but tiny oyster, often misunderstood creature from the sea. For oysters served raw or even in Rockefeller format, I like the 2007 Curtis Viognier ($22) from the Santa Ynez Valley. The acidity is there to combat a raw oyster, and tame the briny element, as well as a noticeable viscosity for a Rockefeller. The floral notes typical of viognier help to boost the sometimes meek flavors of the oyster. This 100% viognier also has a touch of oak on the back palette to aid the oysters any which way you may choose to consume them. - Michael Cervin, Wine Judge, Restaurant Critic, and IntoWine Featured Writer
The California Central Coast, identified as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo (and its main wine region Paso Robles) and Monterey is California the way it used to be, or at the very least, California the way people want it to be: small towns, charming architecture, varied history of Missions and Indians, and coastlines for miles; a slow pace, clean air and a belief that no one real really works very hard. But the area has been home to grape growing since the Spanish brought vine cuttings from Spain via Mexico in the late 1700s and winemakers and vineyard managers have been working hard ever since. To celebrate this beautiful region IntoWine.com offers these 50 wines that represent the diversity of the California Central Coast.
In my last article, I listed the Top 75 French Wines to Try Before You Quit Drinking . In this article I look at the “non-dump bucket” list for wines from California. This proved to be a different task. First, very few wineries have a long track record of making great wine. Secondly, while California is diverse, it does not have the diversity of climates and terroir and grape varietals of France. Still, it does produce some of the best wines in the world and any wine lover should make it a point to try as many of them as they can. Here is my list: 1. Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon – It’s hard to pick the first wine. This one is a great wine in every vintage and has been for a long time. Expensive but still possible to afford and made in large enough quantities to be found in grocery stores. Every lover of Cabernet should try this once.
It’s that time again. As the end of the year draws near, it is natural to look back over the past year. That includes considering the wines enjoyed this past year. Drinking wine involves so many qualities. What we drank, who we drank wine with and when we drank them. The “best” wines aren’t always...
If you are a wine lover, wine connoisseur, wine aficionado or even if you just like to have a couple of glasses on a Friday night, it soon becomes obvious that there are some wines that are held in a higher esteem in the wine world. Sometimes, it is because these wines are very rare. Other times, it’s because the wine has a place in history. Sometimes it’s because the wine is just that good. Here is a list of 75 wines from France that make up that category. A few caveats. I have not tried every wine on this list. Some I have and others I hope to. Many of these wines are rare and hard to find. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on the list. After all, if the opportunity presents itself, go for it.
To make this list I tried to include wines and styles from around the world. Quality was of the utmost importance, but pricing and availability were factors as well. As we lift our glasses this holiday season, there are lots of great sparkling wines to fill them. No need to turn to industrial flavored wines. Some of these wines can be found for under $15. Others are well over $100. There are some wines that are so rare that their stratospheric pricing is based on scarceness and not the quality of the wine in the bottle. Although those wines may in fact be delicious, they are not included on this list. This list includes wines that are for drinking.
