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Going Rouge with Oysters

Going Rouge with Oysters

by Allyson Noman by Allyson Noman

A Featured Selection from the Coast to Coast on the Half Shell Collection A Featured Selection from the Coast to Coast on the Half Shell Collection

2023 Île de Beauté Rouge

2023 Île de Beauté Rouge

Yves Leccia   

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Yves Leccia    France   |  Corsica   |  Vin de Pays de l’Île de Beauté

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Feeling inspired the other evening, I stopped by the neighborhood fish market on my way home. I was in the mood for a fun meal to pair with a bottle of Corsican red I had chilled in the fridge, so I picked up a dozen oysters and a few salmon collars. Both would be easy to throw on the grill, just in time for sunset. Here’s where you may be thinking, oysters and fish with red wine? And my resounding answer is, yes!
     Yves Leccia’s juicy, quaffable rouge is an unexpected, but apt accompaniment to grilled oysters with a nugget of herby butter and dash of spice melted into each half-shell. Mostly Grenache with a bit of the island’s native Niellucciu, the bottle is loaded with fresh red berry fruit, finishing with wild, herbaceous maquis—a beautiful complement to each briny, buttery bite, and a delightful palate reset. The unctuous, crispy-skinned salmon collars were a fabulous follow-up course, but a number of grill-friendly items like sausage or spring produce will also find an inviting match in this bottle. It’s surprisingly light, reminiscent of Beaujolais (also featured in this collection), and it has a particular home-court advantage that I like to keep in mind: reds from seaside terroirs like Leccia’s, whose vines are just minutes from the Mediterranean, match exceptionally well with seafood. As we enter outdoor cooking season, now is the perfect time to get inspired to branch out from your usual oyster pairings… go rogue, and go rouge!

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Take 20% off this wine and others in the collection, now through Monday, April 28th.

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About The Region

Corsica

map of Corsica

I first set foot on the island in 1980. I remember looking down from the airplane window seeing alpine forest and lakes and thinking, uh oh, I got on the wrong plane. Then suddenly I was looking down into the beautiful waters of the Mediterranean. Corsica is a small, impossibly tall island, the tail of the Alp chain rising out of the blue sea.—Kermit Lynch

Kermit’s first trip to the island proved fruitful, with his discovery of Clos Nicrosi’s Vermentino. More than thirty years later, the love affair with Corsica has only grown as we now import wines from ten domaines that cover the north, south, east, and west of what the French affectionately refer to as l’Île de Beauté.

Corsica is currently experiencing somewhat of a renaissance—interest has never been higher in the wines and much of this is due to growers focusing on indigenous and historical grapes found on the island. Niellucciu, Sciarcarellu, and Vermentinu are widely planted but it is now common to find bottlings of Biancu Gentile and Carcaghjolu Neru as well as blends with native varieties like Rossola Bianca, Minustellu, or Montaneccia.

As Kermit described above, Corsica has a strikingly mountainous landscape. The granite peaks top out above 9,000 feet. The terroir is predominantly granite with the exception of the Patrimonio appellation in the north, which has limestone, clay, and schist soils.The wines, much like their southern French counterparts make for great pairings with the local charcuterie, often made from Nustrale, the native wild boar, as well as Brocciu, the Corsican goats milk cheese that is best served within 48 hours of it being made.

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Sampling wine out of the barrel.

When buying red Burgundy, I think we should remember:

1. Big wines do not age better than light wine.
2. A so-called great vintage at the outset does not guarantee a great vintage for the duration.
3. A so-called off vintage at the outset does not mean the wines do not have a brilliant future ahead of them.
4. Red Burgundy should not taste like Guigal Côte-Rôtie, even if most wine writers wish it would.
5. Don’t follow leaders; watch yer parking meters.

Inspiring Thirst, page 174

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Take 20% off this wine and others in the collection, now through Monday, April 28th.