By the same token, the same can be said about most other white varietals associated with the warmer (Southern) parts of France - such as Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne - which tend to make lower acid, fuller alcohol wines, less than optimal matches for the blue-grey oyster. Since the grape growing regions of California and Australia are so much warmer than those of France, Chardonnays from these areas generally lack the lemony tartness and sense of lightness that make the French wines so appropriate for oysters. Knowing this, it might stand to reason that one could substitute Chardonnay made from more readily available sources such as California or Australia, but here is where logic gets screwy. The interesting thing about Chablis, Pouilly Fuisse and Champagne is that all these wines are made from the same grape varietal, Chardonnay (although Champagne, as my sommelier friends would remind me, is usually blended from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and smatterings of Pinot Meunier). The wisdom of drinking light, puckery dry white wine with oysters is not so much accepted as assumed – like drinking water from a cup, and eating sashimi with chopsticks. In it, like a doctor of gastronomy, Fisher prescribes very dry white wine – a French Chablis, Pouilly Fuisse, or Champagne – as the "safest" matches for oysters, especially when the two are served at the same chilly temperatures.Īlthough this wine advice was based on Fisher's practical experience – "whether they were correctly drunk or not, I was" – there are no writers or sommeliers to my knowledge who would beg to differ. Fisher's 60 page, quasi-cookbook, Consider the Oyster copyrighted in 1941, but as fresh as ever. No doubt, the most literate description of oysters can be found in M.F.K. Is it any wonder, given the courage necessary, that oysters have been defined as good for everything from bones and brains, to appetites and sex? Whoever thought of eating one for the first time surely did so on a dare. Or just the idea of eating a raw oyster, sitting in its shell – blue-grey, cold, quivering. While matters of science may be cut and dried, it's somewhat good to know that matters of the senses – such as food and wine – remain tolerant of knowledge passed on through lore and fiction, as much as fact. From the Melting Pot of the Pacific Reconsidering the Oyster
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