Oysters and Muscadet: Does it get any better?

[Jon Troutman]

When hanging out with fellow food obsessed friends and wine nerds, I often throw the following question out to the crowd to see the responses it will elicit:

If forced to choose, what would be your "electric chair" food and wine pairing?

In other words, what would you eat and drink for your very last meal on God's little green earth. Inevitably, names like DRC, Lafite, d'Yquem and Krug weave their way into the conversation, matched with foods like duck breast, Wagyu, Foie Gras, and Sturgeon Caviar.

Even though I love posing the question, I always wrestle with an answer. Tonight though, from the comfort of home, I believe I settled on an answer. Oysters & Muscadet.

The oysters come from East Dennis Oyster Farm, Cape Cod. Plump, sweet and juicy, they're at the pinnacle of the season right now. I personally like to add just a thimble full of red wine vinegar to each. I was lucky enough to pull the perfect bottle to go alongside my deathbed dish.

2005 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine pueri solis:

Golden straw color, surprisingly deep color for Muscadet. Classic nose of oyster shell coupled with toasted pine nuts, lemon and a touch of grassiness. Palate is very round and leesy, with honeyed lemon, apple and mineral notes coming through. Long, full, almost salty finish. Anyone who has tried to refute the notion of minerality in wine is sure to have their mind changed after a glass of this.

Aged 42 months on the lees, this isn't your everyday bottle of Muscadet. A gorgeously textured and complex wine, it could probably improve with a couple more years of age. But why wait? You never know when your last meal will come...

[Anthony Lombardi]

Dude- you are making my mouth water. I haven't had too many east coast oysters, but those sound up my alley. There is a nice oyster place in downtown Seattle, I think I'll bring a Muscadet along next time I go in.

[M Kelly]

Sounds great, but to answer your question.

Yes.

Salon.

Or

Dauvissat.

Or

Raveneau.

Someone posted once about Sauternes pairing well (from some old French recipe) - they were wrong.

And Dauv. 1er crus are affordable for sure. Pricey relative to Muscadet, but not so relative to other great white burgundy. I recently tried a Keller GG with some oysters too - not a great pairing, but certainly an interesting contrast.

MK

[Jon Troutman]

Someone posted once about Sauternes pairing well (from some old French recipe) - they were wrong.


MK

Someone recently told me that Tokaji 3 goes well with oysters. They too, were wrong. I'll stick to the dry and crisp with my bivalves.

[Jeremy Holmes (Online)]

Nice but I'm with Mike, good Champagne or Chablis....a lot better!

[Paul Klevgard]

It gets better with a great Champagne.
But it is a personal preference.

Paul

[John Willison]

Have had oysters twice within the last two weeks. Once with a bottle of Pierre Peters, and once with a bottle of Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Vaillons 2007. For my taste, the Dauvissat was more enjoyable.

A bit of a tangent here, but my wife and I were in DC about a month ago and had lunch at Hank's Oyster Bar...we just talked earlier tonight about needing to get back there.

[alan weinberg]

wonder what the oysters' perspective would be.
(I love 'em, too--oysters and Muscadet.)
alan

[Lee Short (Online)]

I think that preferences for wine to go with oysters correlate with oyster preferences. Me, I'm a Muscadet man. But rich and sweet is not what I look for in my oysters; I like tiny and briny. Though I do like me some Olys (as featured in The Art of Eating), Nathan V. has convinced me that the Quilcenes are supreme.

Whichever you favor, Puget Sound oysters are better a few weeks from now IMO. Not that they're bad now, mind.

[alan weinberg]

the Quilcenes are supreme.

Kumamotos and Malpeques for me--tiny and briny, indeed.
alan

[Robert Thornton]

I couldn't love oysters more, and by far my happiest oyster memory is sucking them back with Muscadet on the sidewalk outside of Baron Brouge on a Sunday afternoon in Paris last fall. Sure, the environment had something to do with it and I'd never turn down serious Chablis or Champagne with oysters, but I do love Muscadet and I'm completely with you as it being a truly great oyster paring.

Cheers,
-Robert

[Jon Troutman]

Believe me, I think a '96 Salon, Raveneau with a few years age, and so many others could have gone equally well with the oysters. But for me, there was something about the "everydayness" (I think I made that word up) that the Muscadet represented, making it that much better. Under $20 and an absolutely gorgeously complex wine.

[Richard T r i m p i]

the Quilcenes are supreme.

Kumamotos and Malpeques for me--tiny and briny, indeed.
alan

Haven't tried the Quilcenes. Don't sell good old Wellfleet's short, or the Malpeque cousins from Nova Scotia and Cape Breton...not to mention French Arcachons. Muscadet and Petit Chablis. Working men's wines for a product requiring hard work.

RT

[Sean Moore]

Dude- you are making my mouth water. I haven't had too many east coast oysters, but those sound up my alley. There is a nice oyster place in downtown Seattle, I think I'll bring a Muscadet along next time I go in.

And drop by the Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard for a plate of Shigokus with a bottle of Muscadet! I think I'm in agreement with Jon and Richard on the value of Muscadet in this regard, but I don't think I'd turn down any of the suggestions in this thread.

[D. Zylberberg]

Huet Sec also does a damn fine job with oysters.

[wbucklew]

I agree with the Chablis comments......had a Fevre PC with some bluepoints on Friday which was a decent pairing. I also enjoy a good Sancerre, which typically works quite well.

[Fred Bower]

I suspect that one of the reasons we like oysters is that they show such variation of flavors when sourced from different places or sub-species. Given this, the perfect wine pairing can vary too, but that's the fun of it. I agree that my go-to wines with oysters are crisp - sauvignon blancs or chenin blancs from the Loire or New Zealand sauvignon blanc, Champagne (Blanc des Blancs or Chardonnay-dominated Brut), Chablis, Macon, even mineral-driven whites from the Cote de Beaune.

As a related aside, I am convinced that cold waters are required for great oysters. All of my experiences with Gulf and Southeastern oysters are that they are relatively bland compared to those from the colder Pacific coast. I will have to look into some of the northern Atlantic coastal offerings from what I've read here.

Cheers,
fred

[Peter Kleban]

Just had this pueri solis '09 with fish cakes. Beautiful! What a fantastic wine. Drinks like a dream. One of the best whites I've had in some time.

I find it very food-friendly, paired fine with a salad (with a mayonnaise, ie not very acid dressing) and with dessert (raspberry and coconut sorbet) as well.

[Sean Moore]

And drop by the Walrus and the Carpenter in Ballard for a plate of Shigokus with a bottle of Muscadet!

Nice mention of the W & C.

http://www.bonappetit.com/magazine/slid ... ca#slide=8

[Robert.Fleming]

I suspect that one of the reasons we like oysters is that they show such variation of flavors when sourced from different places or sub-species. Given this, the perfect wine pairing can vary too, but that's the fun of it.

Highly recommended reading -

Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America, Rowan Jacobsen. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/geograp ... 1100390604

[Jay Miller]

I agree. Lots of other excellent matches but good Muscadet is tops for me, especially with the briney oysters I love.

[SteveG]

Fino and Manzanilla are also great company with raw oysters.

[Roberto Rogness]

Me, I'd go with some good Southern Fried Chicken and a flight of rosé including Camille Saves, something Spanish and Palama Metiusco Salento Rosado.

While on the subject, here's a GREAT song about electric chair meals:



Well, I heard the warden said.
I had one more day.
One last meal before they carried me away.

He said if we don't got it.
We'll go out an' get it.
Because you don't have to go.
Til we get back with it.
So I said, 'Hmmm'.

A-bring me two dinosaur eggs over easy.
Fried in the butter an' not too greasy.
Muskees and bean, black-eyed peas.
An' a little small dish of buttered bee-balm beans
I want-a zebra tooth, a tiger steak
An whole hippopotamus, well baked.

Now go, get my dinner, go.
Get my dinner.
You ain't got it, go out an get it.
'Cause I ain't goin', til ya get back with it.

Now bring me a cup of crocodile tears.
Purple watermellon an some alligator ears.
An bring me two cross-eyed cat fish.
An some wavy gravy in a left-hand dish.

Now go, get my dinner, go.
Get my dinner.
You ain't got it, go out an get it.
'Cause I ain't goin', til ya get back with it.

(Instrumental & guitar solo)

Now bring me a order of rattlesnake hips.
The split of his tongue bring me both of his lips.
Now ya have my order so serve my dish.
With a female banana I just can't resist.

Now go, get my dinner, go.
Get my dinner.
You ain't got it, go out an get it.
'Cause I ain't goin', til ya get back with it.

Go on, get it now.
Don't worry about me, cause I ain't goin' nowhere.

FADES-
Hey! Don't forget the hot sauce!

[Stuart BeauneHead Niemtzow]

Steamed lobster, drawn butter and Georges Vernay Condrieu would be my choice.

Dauvissat Chablis with oysters is pretty fine, too...but the above would be my "electric chair" pairing...though I might prefer a pizza.

Frankly, I can never understand how people even can eat anything at that stage. I always think that if I got a death sentence of any kind, I'd really live it up, but.....I doubt I'd have the appetite or strength.

[chaad thomas]

I'll take Bouzigues oysters with Picpoul de Pinet....and preferably lakeside rather than Death Row. Yeah, screw that; they'll never take me alive!

[ryancurry]

I think muscadet is the best pairing with raw oysters. Champagne and Chablis work well, but I find them to be a little too serious and over power the oyster. Muscadet is light and refreshing with good minerality......great match!!

[Keith Levenberg]

I guess the electric chair is a pretty good occasion for oysters. If you end up eating a bad one, it won't matter.

[MikeMy]

I don't chime in to often here but this post forced me to add my 2 cents worth .......

I must've died at least ten times (w/o a chair) when devouring a "Cadillac Oyster Sampler", from "I LUV BLU SEA" Seafood, with a bottle of Madame Clicquot.

Absolutely orgasmic as my wife always sez. .

Now I gotta try 'em with a Muscadet.