Wine with lobster roll & steamed lobster?

C

Chris Coad

Chris Coad
Lisa and I, who are both hardcore foodies, just returned from the Pearl Oyster Bar where we had our yearly lobster-coma-inducing festival of shellfish. We've been concerned about the lot of the lobstermen, what with plunging prices, and decided it was time to put our moneys where our mouths were and support our guys. I had the Sopranos-approved lobster roll, she had the steamed seabug, which she demolished with her usual aplomb. The Ppire Muscadet we drank cut the mayo in my dish wonderfully, but turned a bit shrill and metallic with plain old ocean-roach. Would the generic grner veltliner have done better, do you think? Or some kind of hypothetically racy semi-underripe chardonnay? At home we'll have a Roally Mcon or something along those lines with the drawn butter version of the offshore arachnid, but that would seem a bad bet with mayo.

We were puzzled, and knew not what to drink. Suggestions appreciated.
 
But the event is over? So it doesn't even matter?

Aside from beer or cider, I think we need to hear from those New England folks.
 
Oh shit, you're right, it's over. It could never happen again, ever. And I'm just asking for a bunch of yahoos from Boston telling me to drink Sam Adams. Christ, what a nightmare.

Okay, never mind.
 
Chenin is perfect match with lobster. So is beer.

Btw, good foodie that I am, I've been supporting our lobstermen by buying a bunch lately. The place I've been going to on Centre a block and a half north of Canal has prices I haven't seen since since you and Lisa experienced lobster shrapnel at my house. 1.70-1.99 pounders are $7.20 a pound, 2-5 pounders are $8 a pound. Smaller guys are $6.70 a pound.
 
I agree with Brad, Chenin works great with lobster au naturel.

As for pricing, culls are your best bet. More tail meat for less $$. Can't go wrong that way.
 
One of the few dishes that good CA chardonnay goes well with.
The trick, of course, is finding good CA chardonnay.
Best, Jim
 
Are you dousing the steamed bug in lemon? If so then Champagne is fantastic.

If you are using butter then Chardonnay really does do the trick. Ramey works well. (I cannot believe I just advocated a Cali Chard...)
 
The best match I've ever had with lobster was the Trimbach 1983 Riesling CFE SGN, but that's probably not going to be offered by the glass or bottle at your local oyster shack. More's the pity.

Since that time, however, I've found that off-dry riesling is a great match, except it has to be weighty; light and precise gets buried by the lobster. So, not Mosel sptlese, but perhaps non-Mosel auslese. Or better yet, off-dry Alsatian. I think the match requires the alcohol.
 
Oh, and you also asked about lobster roll. I think I agree with Ms. Bixler here: the best match I've ever had was Savennires (though again, not everyday...the Clos de la Coule de Serrant, enjoyed at B&G Oysters because they didn't have the cheaper Joly wine that I ordered).
 
As folks folks have indicated, something with weight works best. In addition to the calls for Chenin, I like mountain grapes with a little glycerol in the mouthfeel like Altesse/Roussette/Furmint and Blaterle. Most of your warmer Italian whites will work too (watch for oak, though)- Falanghina, Insolia, even some Trebbiano.

For something a bit more off the beaten path, it's a good time play with a bit of oxidative character- a Lopez bianco (or better, rosato), a Bea (Santa Chiara / Coenobium), Gravner, Scholium, etc.

And of course, with lobster rolls, off-dry rose of Pinot d'Aunis.
 
I'm voting for Champagne, but not a Blanc de Blancs. Something with some weight to it; I'm thinking something from Verzenay, predominantly pinot noir blend.

Or Zind Humbrecht Zind (Chardonnay/Auxerois), if the petrol doesn't offend you.

I'm not feeling the Romorantin pairing. I'd rather drink that by itself.
 
The bug gets both lemon and butter at our house.

Lots of Champagne suggestions; I almost never drink bubby with food, perhaps it's time to reconsider. I'm not convinced California chardonnay would work well with a dish that's swimming in mayonnaise. Something with more bite is called for. Romorantin seems an intriguing notion, maybe an offbeat one along the lines of Marionnet's Provignage or Courtois's Cailloux du Paradis. Savennires I have a hard time seeing--with the roll, yes, but won't it overwhelm a plain buttered bug? I like the altesse idea, too, that's a match that sounds interesting.

Petrol doesn't offend me. My lorry won't go without it.

What's a "cull"?
 
$4.99/pound is the price you pay for a "regular" hardshell lobster (2 claws, 1 tail, real shell). For less dough, you can get a cull which may have something less than the aforementioned inventory.
 
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