Match of the week

Oysters and La Amistad 2013 - a young fresh red from Alicante

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on October 13 2014 at 08:50

It’s generally held that red wine doesn’t pair with oysters unless they’re served, as in Bordeaux, with little crepinettes (pork patties) or spicy sausages but I found a wine last week that suited them perfectly.

It was at the oyster fest held by Newman Street Tavern to celebrate the new season's oysters which were served, beautifully fresh, with a choice of condiments including herb and shallot vinegar.

There was also a choice of drinks including cider (too sweet, in my opinion), Guinness, white wine (didn’t choose it so can’t remember which) and, best of all, a chilled Spanish Rojal from Alicante called La Amistad. It was pale, fresh, very dry and tasted a bit like tart wild cherries which made it improbably good with the oysters - especially served without either of the vinegars. It’s available in the UK from The Real Wine Fair online shop for £12.06. L'atypique Wines has the 2012 vintage

I also drank another lovely natural red - a Plousard - with fish (seabass) when Alice Waters of Chez Panisse came over to cook at Sally Clarke’s last week. You can read about the match and the meal on my blog.

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