Food and wine
What wine with moules marinières?
Muscadet. The question was settled long ago, and for good reasons.
Mussels steamed open in white wine with shallots and parsley, served in the pot with chips. Salty, light, and eaten with your fingers.
Why this pairing works
The dish is briny and cooked in white wine: you want a dry, sharp white with no oak and no sugar. Anything round or aromatic smothers the shellfish instead of accompanying it.
Look for on the list
Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
20–35 €Made next door to the mussel beds, sharp and saline. The regional pairing par excellence, and cheap.
Picpoul de Pinet
20–34 €The Muscadet of the South: the same lemony nerve, a little more sun.
Entre-deux-Mers
18–32 €A dry Bordeaux white, sauvignon, all citrus. Often the cheapest white on the list.
What to avoid : Reds, which turn metallic against shellfish. Oaked whites and opulent chardonnays.
The ranges are restaurant prices for a full bottle. By the glass, reckon on roughly a quarter. At a wine shop, divide by two or three.
What to say
« Un blanc sec et vif pour les moules, s'il vous plaît. »
pronounced : uhn blahn sek ay veef poor lay mool, seel voo PLEH
A dry, crisp white for the mussels, please.
Yes, but on this list?
Knowing which style of wine you want still does not tell you which one to take from the thirty lines in front of you. Photograph the list: Cépage compares what is actually available, at your budget, and decides.
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