They do you know. Last night we ran a Wine and Oyster Tasting and we had a room full of Dutch and what fun they were!

Christophe from L’Espandon fishery in the under cover market at Les Halles in Narbonne, came laden with oysters and taught us about all the different styles, sizes and origins of oysters. Christophe’s family have owned L’Epsandon for 45 years and he has been working there for 22 years so what he does not know about oysters is not worth knowing.

So here are some of the facts that we learnt last night with the wine pairings that we chose and why.

France is the biggest oyster producing country in Europe, the 4th largest in the world, and more than 90% of what they produce is consumed here in France. There are two types of oyster, the Pacific “Creuse” oyster, also know as the “Japonaise” and the European oyster, native to France, known as the flat oyster. The later is considered the finest and is quite rare due to being almost wiped out by a plague last year and so is also the most expensive.

Oysters breathe much like fish, using both gills and mantle. They filtre six litres of water an hour, which sounds impressive until you realise that the humble mussel filtres an amazing 10 litres an hour! There is no way of telling male oysters from females by examining their shells. While oysters have separate sexes, they may change sex more than once during their life span. Sounds useful!

Once harvested the oysters will spend several days in clean seawater to purify before being sold to eat. Traditionally oysters have been eaten only in the months with an “R”, however that was before refrigeration and oysters can now be enjoyed all year round.

Here in the Languedoc we are fortunate to have two types of oyster on our doorstop , the Leucate and the Bouzigues. The Mediterranean is a large source of farmed oysters from the Etang de Leucate just north of Perpignan and then the Etang de Thau just south of Montpellier. However, the finest oysters in France are from the Atlantic coast of Brittany, the Marennes in particular, these are the “Fines de Clair” that you will find in Parisian restaurants. Oysters are sized from 0 to 5, with 0 being the largest and 5 the smallest.

When it came to tasting we found that the oysters from Bouzigues were the saltiest and largest, their taste was strong and rich. The Leucate oysters were less salty and fresher, we had two sizes, “Petite” which were number 3 and considered an “apero” style and then the “Grande” number 2 which were richer and creamier. Lastly we tried the Marennes which were size 2, these were the most delicate and creamiest and a lot less salty than the Mediterranean styles.

When it came to matching with wines, white was definitely the order of the day and dry white at that. We started with the Leucate No. 3 and a Grüner Veltliner from Austria, the Domaine Wachau, very dry, crisp and fresh which lifted the slight saltiness and got the gastric juices ready for more! This was swiftly followed with a Marenne No.2 and an organic Chablis from Brocard, a classic match, steely Chardonnay with slightly more weight than the Grüner which partnered the richer Marenne. Next up was the Bouzigues, very salty and rich. The obvious partner was a Picpoul de Pinet as this is the wine grown along the banks of the Etang de Thau and whenever you go to Sete this is what is being drunk in the bars and restaurants. Quite right too as the high acidity refreshed the saltiness and the lightness of body acted as a good contrast to the richness of the oyster. For a more controversial match we tried a white Collioure from Domaine de la Rectorie made from 100% Grenache Gris, here it was a question of weight matching weight, tasty but not as refreshing and so it would limit you to only a half dozen oysters instead of the full dozen! We then moved back to Leucate and to the larger No.2 with a St Peray from Chapoutier, a Marsanne/ Roussanne blend that was fermented in barrel. The oak was slight but added weight and a slight spice. We then finished with the Marenne and a glass of Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve made with a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from three vintages. A classy wine to finish the tasting with, the combination of  high acidity and effervescence cut through any saltiness and the elegance of the wine harmonised the creamy character of the oysters. Delicious!

Whilst tasting the oysters we had the traditional “Pain de Siegle”, rye bread, and salted butter. However we did not use either lemons or the red wine vinegar and shallot dressing as neither do the wines or oysters any favours. Vinegar over powers most wines, and Christophe explained that the dressing and lemon juice will be the dominate lasting flavour overriding the oysters. He recommended ‘au nature’ or with a hint of freshly ground black pepper.

Before he left he gave us his own recipe for gratineed oysters.

Christophe’s “Huître Gratinée”

Open the oysters 2 hours in advance.

Empty the water 6 times, oysters produce water 7 times! Keep the 7th water.

Pour 1 tsp of Champagne, 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp of grated Gruyére onto each oyster.

Grill under a hot grill until the cheese begins to melt, no more than a minute or 2.

Serve immediately.