The World Is Their Oyster
By Jim Rink
Contributing Editor
Seafood lovers will
be pleased to learn of an annual event that pairs wines from across the globe
with the slippery, yet sensuous indigenous American oyster - Crassostrea virginica.
Old Ebbitt Grill - an
historic Washington, D.C. watering hole for the nation's power brokers - hosted
the 6th Annual International Wines for Oysters Competition on
November 16, 2001. According to event
organizers Michael Franz of the Washington
Post and Paul Lukacs of the Washington
Times, the competition "celebrates wine's affinity for oysters by publicly
identifying the world's most oyster-friendly wines."
They claim it is the
only wine competition in the world in which wines from all across the globe are
judged with food. Hmmmm...I guess they
never heard of the Sydney International Wine Competition, or the Napa Valley
World Mustard Competition, not to mention the Annual American Institute of Wine
and Food Caesar Salad Competition.
But hey, we're
talking about OYSTERS! According to
American Mussel Harvesters, Inc., during last year's 'Oyster Riot' at Ebbitt
Grill, 600 ticket holders tasted the most oyster-friendly wines anywhere,
culled from an impressive 347 entries representing 13 states and nine other
countries. Approximately 7,000 oysters
were consumed - that's 11.6 oysters per person.
And the Winners Are...
In 2000, a sauvignon
blanc from New Zealand earned top honors for the third year in a row from the
judges at Ebbitt Grill, who are advised to "spit the wine, not the
oysters." The winner - Grove Mill's
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2000 also made a fine showing at the aforementioned
Sydney International Wine Show Competition, bringing home Blue Gold and Top 100
medals. The wine has been described as
having a citric tang and zesty bite, a "punchy, weighty wine with fresh,
penetrating flavors of passionfruit and lime." (Michael Cooper, Wine Star, November 2000).
Other wines earning
the gold for their compatibility with oysters - Christian Moreau Chablis, 1999;
Domain Chandon (California) Brut Classic Sparkling Wine; and Wolffer Estate
(Long Island, NY) La Ferme Martin Chardonnay, 1998.
Not to be outdone by
wannabees on the East Coast, the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition has
fielded its own list of oyster-friendly wines for quite some time. In their annual search for the bibber's best
bivalve accompaniment, judges from the Pacific Coast granted the following
wines top honors (out of a field of 142):
·
Amity 1995 Pinot
Blanc (Oregon)
·
Bridgedview 1993
Barrel Select Chardonnay (Oregon)
·
Covey Run 1995 Fume
Blanc (Washington)
·
Dry Creek 1995 Dry
Chenin Blanc (California)
·
Hedges Cellars 1995
Fume Chardonnay (Washington)
·
J. Fritz 1995 Melon
(California)
·
St. Supery 1995
Sauvignon Blanc (California)
·
Trefethen 1994
Chardonnay (California)
·
Vichon 1995
Chevrignon (California)
·
Washington Hills 1995
Dry Chenin Blanc (Washington)
In general, judges
like clean, young wines with higher acid levels to balance the oyster's
sweetness, e.g., a chablis, sauvignon blanc or a Muscadet. Wine
Spectator columnist Sam Gugino recommends Portugese vinho verde, dry Chenin
Blanc from the Loire Valley, unoaked Chablis and blanc de blanc champagne.
Of course, wine
choice may also be affected by how the oysters are prepared.
According to Dana
Nigro of the Spectator, "Oysters can
be eaten raw, roasted, steamed, fried or added to soups and stews. Oysters for
cooking, especially those to be fried, should be at least medium in size. But
almost any oyster that can be gulped down in one swallow is a candidate for
eating raw. Many fanatics believe raw oysters should be accompanied by nothing
more than a squeeze of lemon. Others prefer sauces, such as the classic
mignonette sauce of minced shallots, freshly cracked black pepper and equal
amounts of Champagne vinegar and white wine. Classic baked oyster dishes
include favorites such as oysters Rockefeller, oysters Bienville and oysters
casino."
Harvey Steiman, also
of the Wine Spectator, offers the
following recipe for Pacific Rim Oysters:
Pacific Rim Oysters
24 Japanese-type
oysters in the shell (plump oysters, not the flat type)
Seaweed for garnish
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup mirin (sweet sake)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Open the oysters over
a large bowl to collect the juices. Loosen the oysters from their shells and
arrange them on plates covered with seaweed.
Strain and measure
1/4 cup oyster juice and combine it in a nonreactive saucepan with the ginger,
rice vinegar, mirin and soy sauce. Boil the mixture until it reduces in volume
to about 1/3 cup. Add the olive oil and let it boil for 1 minute longer. Spoon
about 1/2 teaspoon of this sauce on each oyster and serve. Serves 4 to 6.
Shell-Shocked
Inevitably, with the
advent of a competition that pairs wine judges with food, enthusiasts have
begun to adopt a specialized approach (not to mention nomenclature) for the
care, feeding and eating of oysters.
According to The Washington Post,
a new generation of mollusks has emerged - boutique oysters - hand-raised and
pampered in discreet, out-of-the-way locations, sort of like an underwater
gated community. And they have
intriguing, exotic names like Daybob Bay, Sunset Beach, Fanny Bay, Hamma Hamma,
Little Creek, Quilcene, Olympia, Steamboat and Pickle Point.
Growing conditions,
texture, shell contour and flavor all play a role, says the Post.
Various styles of oyster have now achieved vinifera status, and refined
breeding begets descriptive terms like "copper bite" or "cucumber finish." (It has been estimated that, by the year
2018, gormands will require twice as much time to complete a meal - with
roughly 15 minutes spent evaluating the wine and 5 additional minutes for each
separate food item, not including dessert.)
As a result of this
new-found status, raw oyster bars now offer as many as 10 oyster choices each
week, with prices reaching $25 for a dozen - that's $2.08 per oyster.
I know that food and
wine can complement each other quite nicely, but let's just keep White Castle
hamburgers out of the equation, OK? I
can afford White Castle, and it keeps quite nicely in the freezer, right next
to the frozen fish sticks and old radio batteries.
Online Resources
White Castle
www.whitecastle.com
Washington Post
www.washingtonpost.com
Wine Spectator
www.winespectator.com/Wine/Spectator/Feature/Food/100799oysters.html
Pacific Coast Oyster
Wine Competition
http://seattle.citysearch.com/feature/10247
Grove Mill Wine
Company
http://webnz.com/grovemill/awards.html
American Mussel
Harvesters, Inc.
www.americanmussel.com
Old Ebbitt Grill
www.dchappyhour.com/power.htm