I’ll begin with a confession. Scrolling through my phone during lockdown, I found an alarming number of photos of oysters, and in quite a few of them, the glass beside the oysters was red.
Since my first days in wine, I’d been taught that this was simply not done, as oysters belong with white or sparkling wine, and a red would surely leave you with the taste of tin foil. Then a woman at an oyster bar in Paris handed me a glass of red, and I’ve been quietly breaking the rule ever since.
Here’s the trick, and it’s simpler than you might think. Oysters aren’t acidic, so rather than matching acidity, you want a wine that suits their briny, mineral character. That means a red that’s light-bodied, earthy rather than fruity, and from a cool climate where the acidity stays bright.
1. Loire Pinot Noir or Gamay. Paris bistros are full of Loire wines, and a light, slightly funky natural red goes down very easily with a dozen oysters. Natural Beaujolais does the job nicely too.
2. Jura Poulsard or Trousseau. You’ll struggle to find an oyster bed in the Jura mountains, but the region’s light reds get on with oysters remarkably well, which I take as proof that opposites attract.
3. Chilled reds from further afield. Put a light or medium-bodied red in the fridge until dew forms on the bottle, then try it with Teroldego, Bobal, Mencía, Cinsault or a cool-climate Pinot Noir. Nobody will arrest you if it doesn’t work.
Where to try it in Paris
L’Huîtrerie Régis is a tiny oyster bar near Mabillon with just 14 seats and no reservations, so arrive early or bring patience. It has close ties to the oyster farmers of Marennes-Oléron, and the owners are so friendly that one conversation with them led us to visit an oyster farm a year later.
3 rue de Montfaucon, 75006 Paris
Read more: natural wines in Paris
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