SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Jon Rowley & Associates release] - April 16, 2009 - SEATTLE, Not many wines go with oysters.

That is why panels of 12-14 prominent oyster-loving writers, restaurateurs, retailers and oyster growers will convene at the Water Grill in Los Angeles April 21, at Sutro's at the Cliff House in San Francisco April 22 and Anthony's Homeport at Shilshole Bay April 23 in Seattle to select the 10 best West Coast wines to go with oysters as the conclusion to the 2009 Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition.

The popular annual dating service for West Coast wines and oysters is sponsored by Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton, Washington and organized by competition founder, Jon Rowley, Jon Rowley & Associates of Seattle.

Wineries from California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington were invited to submit entries to the Competition. Typically the best “oyster wines” are dry, crisp, clean-finishing white wines. Wines are tasted blind with Kumamoto oysters. 132 West Coast (CA-83, OR-19, WA-30) wines were entered this year. In a week-long preliminary judging, five veteran judges consumed 120 dozen oysters to narrow the field to 30 wines, which were retasted with oysters, to select the 20 finalist wines.

Judges taste the oyster, then smell and sip the wine and then rate the “bliss factor”, the wine's affinity with the oyster. Judging scores from the three city finals are combined to determine the ten 2009 “Oyster Award” winners. The 2009 winners will be announced April 27 at www.oysterwine.com and by press release.

Prior to the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, restaurants traditionally looked to France for wines like Muscadet and Chablis to go with oysters but many now await the results of the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition to select their house “oyster wines”. “Oyster Award”-winning wines enjoy immediate sales results.

“The search for wines to go with oysters adds to the excitement and culture of oysters”, says Taylor Shellfish Farms president, Bill Taylor. “The acclaim by the wine and restaurant industries as well as the media makes the Competition fun for everyone.”

Taylor Shellfish Farms is a fifth generation family-owned company producing oysters, Manila clams, Mediterranean mussels, geoduck and shellfish seed for national and international markets.