My first introduction to oysters was from my dad and sister. Years ago they brought me to Rodney's Oyster Bar in Toronto, where you can buy every critter that crawls the sea for your gastinomic delight. We ate tray upon tray of oysters, washed down with raspberry wheat beer from the Kawartha Lakes brewery. Heaven! It was there I learned the finer points of oyster cuisine, comparing East and West coast offerings, experimenting with dabs of horseradish and squirts of lemon. I have to say I am content with absolutely no garnish on my oyster at all; straight up in a puddle of its own juice is just fine with me! I am partial to Malpeques above all others, and East coast oysters over West coast, but if anyone wishes to challenge me on this please feel free to fly me out to Conneticut or Galway Bay or anywhere else and I'll happily gobble up the challenging oysters for a comparison!
Lorri was the first to spot the giant banner reading OYSTERS at the wine show, and with a crazed gleam in her eye, she ran knees-up across the floor to secure her place in line. While Lorri was busy loading up on Malpeques, I beelined to the Vintages preview booth just 10 paces away, where I got everyone a nice glass of Drouhin Vaudon Les Clos Chablis Grand Cru 2008. I'd been dreaming of this moment. The moment where I'd finally, finally get to have oysters and Chablis together. I'd had both multiple times, but seperately, and I knew that there could not be a more perfect food pairing in the world. You often hear of folks pairing oysters and champagne, and that's just fine, but nothing could possibly be more perfect than a knobby, plump, cold oyster--maybe with a teeny squeeze of lemon--followed by a mouthful of stoney, seashelly Chablis. For the uninitiated, Chablis, a region of Northern Burgundy, used to be entirely under the sea. The tiny town of Chablis and it's immediate area make the most stunning unoaked chardonnay. The wine is kept in steel or cement tanks, preserving that wonderful seashell flavour. The best Chablis is like a razor's edge-- bone dry; it's a sharp balance between minerality and lemony-citrus flavours. This particular sample fit the bill perfectly, and I can tell you there was a lineup for samples at the booth as word got out. In fact, the shelf in the neighbouring LCBO store had just two bottles left when we went wine shopping at the end of day, and I don't imagine they had any to pack up and take back with them at the end of show. No small achievement at $75/bottle!
So there we were, hunkered down at a cafeteria-style table having this otherworldly experience. Funny, I'd always pictured myself having oysters and Chablis for the first time in some posh bar or restaurant, not out of a plastic container in a food court. No matter; nothing could have diminished the extrasensory delight of eating these two foods together. I just feel bad that poor Karen, who detests all seafood. She had to endure a table full of fishy blobs and discarded shells while Lorri, Dad and I moaned and went on and on about how wonderful it was!
Before I sign off, I will say that I tried another wine at Vintages preview that would also appeal to Chablis lovers. Domaine Jean-Marc Les Caillerets Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru 2007--phew, that's a mouthful! But what a nice wine! It's from further south than Chablis, in Burgundy still, and was more peachy and floral than the Chablis, but still very refreshing. Like Chablis, but muscled up with fruit a bit. Again, $75/bottle, so maybe it's a birthday gift to self.
The LCBO #'s for these wines are: 222133 for the Drouhin Vaudon and 205955 for the Domaine Jean-Marc Morey. These wines are not available quite yet, but look for them later this spring.
Next on Wine Show Wind Up: Malivoire! I swear they are one of Ontario's most reliable wineries!
xoxo
Barb
No comments:
Post a Comment