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What are the best wine matches for shellfish?

Shellfish and wine is one of the happiest of marriages: the one making the perfect foil for the other. Whether it’s a few oysters or an opulent lobster thermidor you need an accompanying glass to enjoy it fully.

It is, however, one of those areas of food and wine matching where it’s easy to get into a bit of a rut so I called up award-winning cookery writer Mark Hix (at the time executive chef of two of London’s most popular and glamourous seafood restaurants J. Sheekey and Scott’s* to run through a few options with him.

The great thing about Mark as a chef is that he respects his ingredients He might tweak a sauce to give it an extra edge but he won’t mess with a recipe for the sake of it. He’s also, as co-author of ‘The Simple Art of Marrying Food and Wine’ quite eclectic in his wine choices being as comfortable with new world wines as with the classics.

Scott’s, as you’d expect, sells a great deal of expensive white burgundy but interestingly quite a wide range of bottles you wouldn’t anticipate. “We have a band of die-hard seafood lovers who are prepared to be quite adventurous” revealed general manager Matt Hobbs. “We’ll get a table ordering a plateau de fruits de mer who will go through several different wines during the course of the meal. One of our best-selling wines is a 5 a glass Sauvignon Blanc from Argentina. We’re also selling a lot of Albarino.”

We ordered a series of dishes, some raw, some cooked and sauced and tried a range of different wines - mainly white - with them:

Oysters with and without shallot vinegar
Mark was firmly of the view that oysters were better without vinegar from a wine point of view, letting the wine do the job of condiment. The, zesty, lemony Laflor Sauvignon Blanc proved a surprisingly good match with the oysters on their own, almost like eating Sydney rock oysters. An oaked white Bordeaux, Chateau Guiraud 2005 worked slightly better, once a splash of shallot vinegar was added.
Other possibilities: try the Languedoc’s favourite oyster white Picpoul de Pinet

Shellfish cocktail
With the classic ‘marie-rose’ sauce (to which Mark had added a bit of a kick by way of horseradish and Tabasco), we reckoned you needed a touch of sweetness but an Ayler Kupp 2005 Mosel Kabinett Riesling proved too floral. A 2004 Pauletts Polish Hill Riesling from the Clare Valley which had an evolved lime and kerosene character worked better but the best match by far was an English wine, a 2005 Chapel Hill Bacchus. A youthful, clean 2006 Martin Codex Albarino also worked well.
Other possibilities: Mark suggested a dry ros or chilled minor red burgundy like a Fixin. Pink fizz might also be fun

Tiger Prawns with garlic butter
We both thought sherry would be a great match for the garlicky, buttery juices but the La Gitana Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana we tried lacked the freshness and bite we were looking for. A glass of Tio Pepe, however, hit the spot perfectly. We also liked a crisp 2005 Marques de Riscal Rueda
Other possibilities: an Australian Verdelho

Dressed crab
Here being able to taste the delicate flavour of the crab was critical so we first went for a classic Pouilly Fum 2005 from Domaine Coulbois which worked predictably well as opposed to a lightly oaked Christophe Cordier Pouilly Fuiss which was disappointing. The big surprise though was that the Bacchus again proved an excellent match. “This is a top seafood wine” said Mark approvingly.
Other possibliities: A modern dry German riesling

Baked spider crab
A rich spicy dish, including ginger, garlic, chilli and sherry which led Mark to the Tio Pepe again but it didn’t perform quite so well this time. What did work wonderfully, especially with the brown crabmeat and buttery crumbs was a buttery Les Hauts de Smith Pessac-Lognan 2004 (the second white of Smith-Haut-Lafitte). It was also surprisingly good, by way of contrast, with the La Flor Sauvignon Blanc
Other possibilities: A viognier or fat Southern French white blend of Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier would have the requisite weight for the sauce and deal well with the spice

Lobster Mayonnaise
Although cold shellfish normally calls for crisp wines, lobster meat with its sweetness and richness needs a more full-bodied white especially if served, as it is at Scott’s, with a rich mayonnaise and chips. A favourite of Mark’s, a big, buttery Dog Point chardonnay from Marlborough in New Zealand (the 2005) hit the spot perfectly. An intense, minerally Punggl Pinot Grigio 2006 from the Alto Adige also worked in quite a different register, creating a clean, minerally counterpoint but we found the lesser whites such as the Pouilly Fuiss generally foundered
Other possibilities: Vintage champagne or - a nice idea from Mark - Bandol ros

Lobster Thermidor
Mark’s thermidor sauce was atypically mustardy which made crisper wines like the Pinot Grigio perform better than we expected. Mark also put up a chilled 2004 Peregrine Pinot Noir from New Zealand which was a touch sweet but proved a red could work as well as a white with this sort of sauce.
Other possibilitiies: A red burgundy with a bit of bottle age would have been ideal.

Griddled scallops with chilli and garlic
Two potentially conflicting influences here - the sweet, caramelised flavour of seared scallops and the spiciness of the chilli which I thought might be a bit much for the Dog Point Chardonnay. It actually matched pretty well though we thought a 2006 Wachau Grner Veltliner from Weingut Pfarre had the edge. The Tio Pepe worked again too though both the Polish Hill Riesling and the Bacchus were a bit overwhelmed.
Other possibilities: Albarino would have been a good pairing here too

Herb-roasted shellfish with sea vegetables and garlic butter
A dream dish of lobster, prawns and razor clams which combined the sweet flavours of roasted shellfish with garlic and herbs. Flagging a bit by this stage we only tried three wines, the Albarino (good), the Peregrine Pinot Noir (much better here than with the thermidor sauce) and, given the powerful umami flavours of the roast shells, a glass of Scott’s house champagne Thophile Roederer Brut which proved the star pairing
Other options: top new world fizz such as Pelorus

Although the tasting confirmed many of our existing prejudices we both felt it threw up some interesting insights. One was the important part that the age and temperature of the wine plays in matching shellfish, particularly when it’s raw or unsauced. Younger wines, with intense, clean flavours, generally work better than more mature ones that have been subject to a degree of oxidation. Secondly dry whites are a much more reliable choice than off-dry, aromatic ones (though the Bacchus was a great hit with us both). And thirdly that matching shellfish is as much to do with mood as food. In the right setting (a beach caf) a simple fresh wine can be just as pleasurable as a great one.

Scott’s is at 20 Mount Street, London W1K 2HE. Tel: 020 7495 7309. www.scotts-restaurant.com

This article was first published in the September 2007 issue of Decanter. Mark Hix has since left Scotts to open his own restaurants Hix Oyster and Chop House and Hix Oyster and Fish House

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Comments: 1 (Add)

David Porter on May 8 2013 at 04:33

Looks like I will have to BYO my own Hunter Semillon if I am to enjoy this unique wine with any of your dishes. Shame the world misses out.

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