There are more to oysters…

Yesterday The Wine Tipster was to be found at The Boisdale in Canary Wharf for The Boisdale & Wright Brothers Oyster Tasting Championship 2011. The judges including Tom Parker-Bowles, Bill Knott, Henry Deedes, Douglas Blyde and Richard Harden had 13 oysters to taste, which were split into 5 Native – have the best flavour in the cooler months with the letter ‘R’ in them – and 8 Pacific – breed differently and can be tasted all year. When you taste oysters you are encouraged to chew and let air over the oyster as you would for a wine. There were of course really distinct differences in the tasting, with the judges awarding Loch Ryan from south west Scotland first prize in the Native and Dorset Brownsea Island, Poole winning the Pacific.
A high quality Boisdale lunch included an excellent game consommé followed by a cutlet of feral partridge, seared foie gras, liquorice and creamy savoy cabbage. During lunch there were some lovely champagnes served from G.H. Mumm including Mumm de Cramant and a very good 2005 claret Chateau Rahoul, Graves.
It is worth noting that Oyster production in the UK has increased by 45% in the last two years so support this industry and next time I taste oysters I will be chewing.