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WHAT IS AN "OYSTER WINE"?
The Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition is sponsored annually by Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, Washington. The goal of the Competition is to identify, on an annual basis, a group of West Coast wines that can be recommended as good "oyster wines"...good wines to accompany oysters. A narrow band of wine styles and characteristics work well with oysters, a vibrant combination of sweetness (glycogen), minerals and the sea. Judges in past oyster wine competitions have identified the following "oyster wine" characteristics:

  • "Brisk and clean."
  • "Not too fancy; no complications."
  • "I like it cold."
  • "Get away from vanilla and butter."
  • "Don't like any residual sugar."
  • "Light, fresh."
  • "Citric or mineral undercurrent."
  • "Clean, slicing finish."
  • "Acid and chalk."
  • "Dry, steely, chilled to a crisp."
  • "Crisp, delicate but firm."
  • "Sharp, fierce acidity."
  • "Seeringly dry."
  • "Makes you want to eat more oysters."
  • "Dry, crisp, clean finishing."
  • "White, white, white."
  • "Dry as bone, clean as a whistle."
  • "Crisp, clean."
  • "Refreshing."
  • "Good backbone of acid."
  • "Avoid big, buttery, oaky Chardonnay."
  • "Same temperature as the oyster."
  • "Airy freshness."
  • "Lean, austere."
  • "Let's the oyster be an oyster."
  • "Steely."
  • "Crisp, flinty."
  • "Doesn't get in the way of the next oyster."
  • "Something with mineral."

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