Oysters and Curran Gewurztraminer: a Perfect Match

Kumamoto Oysters with cucumber mignonette (cucumber, shallots, rice wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, lime juice and sugar)

We decided to put K.'s newly honed oyster shucking skills to good use and bought a dozen Kumamoto oysters from Santa Monica Seafood as part of dinner at home today. We paired it with a bottle of 2007 Curran Gewurztraminer, which complemented the sweet and creamy oysters perfectly. Kris Curran, the former winemaker for Sea Smoke who really put Sea Smoke on the map, is the owner and winemaker of Curran which has a nice tasting room in Solvang that we have visited a couple of times. I was so excited when M. told me that they were offering 50% off case purchases for a limited time; a total steal for their wonderful wines. I was on the road but immediately called up the winery and ordered a case of Curran Grenache Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and Grenache Rose, Badge Blue Steel Chardonnay, and DiBruno Pinot Grigio from Kris Curran herself, who is so patient and nice, spending over a half hour with me on the phone, picking the perfect case. I love all Curran whites; I bought several bottles of her Grenache Blanc and Gewurtztraminer over a year ago which were delicious. The 2007 Gewurztraminer was no exception: perfectly balanced with a lovely floral lychee grapefruit nose, consistent flavor and enough structure and acidity, and a nice long but clean lychee finish without much sugary residual. We're all kicking ourselves for not buying two cases of wine. The wine was a good pairing with the oysters, and I made a simple cucumber mignonette as an accompaniment. While I liked the Kumamotos, I'm still dreaming of the Point Reyes oysters which were larger with more flavor without being overly fishy/briny. For our main course, we had some wild sake salmon, the dish I've been cooking the most often the last few months. I've found that I definitely prefer wild salmon over farmed salmon for its firmer texture and stronger flavor (plus its more sustainable); fortunately Costco has started carrying wild salmon again after stopping for the last few months.