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Last updated May 6, 2008 12:42 p.m. PT
So what is the best wine to drink with oysters? And I'm not talking about fried or stewed or barbecued, but freshly shucked oysters all briny and plump and slurped right from the shell. To be sure, it's a delicacy not for everyone. But for those who appreciate the experience, the question of which wine to serve is very important.
While other foods can be accommodating and forgiving of the wine they're paired with, oysters can be rigid in their relationship with wines. Serve a wine that is too oaky, alcoholic or warm and the combination can send shudders down the spine. Serve a sweet one and a natural gag reflex can kick in.
That's why for 14 years now Jon Rowley, local boy and national seafood icon (he created the Copper River salmon phenomenon), and Bill Taylor of Taylor Shellfish Farms have teamed up to provide what Rowley calls an "annual dating service for oysters and wine." I've judged 13 of the competitions, including this year's, and have learned a thing or two about matching oysters and wines. Oysters prefer wines that are: white, light, dry, cold, crisply acidic and preferably made from sauvignon blanc. Oysters disdain wines that are: red or rose, high in alcohol, have too much flavor, are heavy, oaky, warm or sweet.
Each year Rowley gathers a group of judges at Anthony's Home Port restaurant at Shilshole to sort through entries (this year 200) to find 20 finalists, from which the dozen winners are selected. The finals actually happen in three cities -- San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle -- and the scores are combined to find the winners. For each wine an oyster is slurped then chased with a sip of wine. The judge will then "rate the bliss factor." Rowley admonishes judges not to overanalyze the wines because "its not about the wine, it's about the oyster." Here are this year's winners in alphabetical order.
WINNERS
# 2006 Amity Vineyards Oregon Pinot Blanc ($17)
# 2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($10)
# 2006 Clayhouse California Sauvignon Blanc ($14)
# 2006 Clos du Bois California Sauvignon Blanc ($14)
# 2006 Covey Run Washington State Fume Blanc ($9)
# 2006 Dry Creek Vineyards Sonoma County Fume Blanc ($14)
# 2006 Girard Winery California Sauvignon Blanc ($16)
# 2007 Kathryn Kennedy Winery California Sauvignon Blanc ($19)
# 2006 Robledo Family Winery California Sauvignon Blanc ($22)
# 2006 Simi Winery California Sauvignon Blanc ($15)
# 2007 Van Duzer Vineyards Oregon Pinot Gris ($18)
# 2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards Oregon Pinot Gris ($15)
Richard Kinssies is a freelance wine writer, director of the Seattle Wine School and owner of the Wine Outlet. Contact him at 206-652-1311 or richardkinssies@msn.com.
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