Fresh & delicious oysters

If most of us prefer the summer month of August in front of September's chilly mornings announcing the arrival of the Autumn, oyster fans don’t really bother. In September, a new month with an «R» arrives and good oyster months should include the letter "R" in the spelling. Oysters are « milky » and a bit creamy during the summer months and some people find this a bit repulsive. However, this phenomena disappears in September and oysters return to a fresh and normal state. Then how to eat the oysters? It’s of course a matter of taste, but our recommendation is to serve them in the easiest possible way. The serving proposals are sometimes compicated with both vinegar, shallot, and other taste destructive ingredients. Lemon, butter, bread and a glass of good white wine is what we recommend. Lemon is softer in taste than vinegar and has the advantage of rather enhancing and freshening the iodo oyster flavors. What to drink then? We recommend a dry white wine with a nice and lively acidity to balance with the oysters iodo sea flavor. A white wine from Burgundy, preferably a Chablis, is a classic choice. Chardonnay wines from the area around Mâcon is another more aromatic and fruity option. A Sancerre wine from the Loire is also just as excellent for those who prefer Sauvignon to Chardonnay wines. Finally, a more southerly variant is Picpoul de Pinet. The wine comes from the region around the town of Sète in the Languedoc wine region. Oysters are for most of us a shellfish from the Atlantic ocean. Nevertheless, oysters are also found in the Mediterranean sea and in France, they are primarily cultivated in the Etang de Thau, just next to Sète. Oysters from here may be slightly saltier than those from the Atlantic, but if you pour off the first water in the oyster after opening it, they become just as fine in flavor as oysters from the Atlantic. Picpoul, which actually is produced from picpoul grapes, is a dry, rather lively wine with good acidity. Historically, it is a wine which has been considered to be a fairly simple and unpretentious white wine, but in recent years the quality has improved and today it is an interesting alternative to oysters and seafood in general.