I’ve been spending my summer on the quiet end of an island at the Jersey Shore. So, I’ve had seafood, particularly shellfish, on the brain. Though restaurant options here are limited and touristy, there are always fine oysters to enjoy, overlooking the bay at sunset. Yes, I know I shouldn’t really eat oysters in a month that doesn’t have an “r” but I don’t care. My wine options at the bayside bar are somewhat limited, too. But as I sip the overpriced, middling white wine, I think about what the ideal pairing with my Cape May Salts, fresh from the Delaware Bay, might be.

People love to talk about what they like to drink with oysters. What is it about bivalves that causes such a pairing debate? And what is it that actually pairs best with oysters? I posed this question to some industry people. But let's talk about the most-cited pairings first.

The classic answer has always been Chablis, which is a fine pick. But I think Chablis has become a default answer mostly because wine people like talking about its soil, which is laced with marine fossils. It’s also why you often see “oyster shell” as a tasting note on Chablis.

Beyond that, Muscadet is always a popular answer. Muscadet comes from the westernmost end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes. It's a strange designation, because "muscadet" doesn't refer to geography or the grape, but rather a characteristic of the wine "vin qui a un goût musqué" — literally a "wine with a musk-like taste."

I'm not sure "musk" is the right way to describe it. But then, muscadet is more of a feeling or a sensation rather than easily identifiable aromas and flavors. Muscadet will usually have crisp minerality and a touch of sea salt. And it will often have a bit of spritz and a creaminess because it’s made sur lie — meaning it's aged on the lees (i.e., dead yeast cells). Yes, Muscadet can be a strange wine. Which is why I love it.

Finally, Sancerre (the “people’s champ” as we’ve called it recently) is a go-to answer for the oyster pairing question. Sancerre’s fresh herbal notes and minerality pair well with everything from grilled fish to fennel to goat cheese—so why not oysters, as well?

But I wanted to get beyond the three French white usual suspects to see what else people liked drinking with oysters. So, I put the question out on Instagram, and got a lot of great answers back, ranging from Albariño to Jura vin jaune to dry cider made (quite specifically!) with Goldwin apples to dry vermouth to “limestone coastal whites” to manzanilla pasada to fino sherry. I like all of these choices, but manzanilla or fino sherry are among my favorites—they’re almost perfect pairings.

Many people even think far beyond wine when it comes to oyster pairings. A friend in France, Amy Pasquet, reminded me that young Cognac, with the bottle spending time in the freezer, is delightful. Pasquet says her rambunctious 4-year-old L’Organic “loses its alcoholic burn entirely when frozen and that makes all the fruit come out in spades. The salt and iodine of the oysters is a fabulous contrast and they are incredibly complementary.” Having recently been in Cognac, I can attest to this pairing. Cognac, after all, is near the Atlantic coast, not far from Île d'Oléron, renowned for its oysters. I had some of the best oysters of my life in a little shack on the island, nipping on cold young Cognac.

Alicia Kennedy, who has written profoundly about eating oysters, prefers martinis with her mollusks. Kennedy’s favorite martini is 50-50 with gin and dry vermouth, garnished by an olive, ice cold. I co-sign this “eternally chic” pairing, as Kennedy puts it. “I eat oysters because they provide a grand sense of occasion, and a gin martini is my go-to cocktail for occasions,” Kennedy says.

Perhaps that grand sense of occasion is why there’s so much chatter about pairing drinks and oysters.

Here is what some others say about pairing oysters and wine:

Emily Ann Wagener, head sommelier at Il Buco in New York, echoes my own top white-wine choice for oysters, dry Chenin Blanc: “For me, it’s Montlouis, hands-down. Dry Chenin, and it has to be on a limestone-driven soil, for the leaner texture and its fiercely mineral-driven nature. There’s something about the level of nerve and energy in Chenin from that little pocket, almost like a pinball that gets stuck bouncing between bands up at the top of the board, that can match the salty freshness of oysters.”

Ren Peir, sommelier at Somm Time in New York’s Lower East Side, who also hosts BABE Wine Bar pop-ups, co-signs the classic pairing of Muscadet: “Muscadet, especially sur lie, because there’s the seashelly quality of the wine that’s amazing with the oyster. But also the extra oomph and body from the lees that holds up to any topping you put on the oyster.”

Brianne Day, winemaker of Day Wines in Willamette Valley Oregon, suggests another classic: “Champagne is my favorite wine with most things, but I tailor the style of Champagne depending on the food. I eat a lot of local Oregon or Hood Canal oysters, which are sweeter and fatter than Atlantic oysters. I like a blanc de blancs that is more lean and minerally to balance the opulence of the oysters. Just a spritz of lemon and a glass of bubs, that's a favorite for me.”

François Monti, Madrid-based drink writer, and the author of (among other books) El Gran Libro del Vermut, leaned into his vermouth expertise with his pairing suggestion: “Noilly Prat vermouth is the Champagne of the poor. That’s what they drink around Sète (on the Mediterranean, near Montpellier, with the oysters they grow around. I think the botanicals and the profile of the wine base are a good match.”

Chase Beakley, sommelier at Knife Steakhouse in Dallas, recommends Aligoté, Burgundy’s “other” white grape: “Crisp, clean, citrus. It lets the food do the talking. But if it’s made by a good producer you’re probably getting good complexity and quality for your dollar. Also, it’s just a different move than the classic Muscadet or Champagne recommendation, so it’s more fun.”

Christine Zubris, owner of Versi Vino wine bar in Maple Shade, New Jersey (which we profiled a few months ago) went with a specific Atlantic island white: “I would go with Tajinaste Blanco Seco (Listán Blanco) from the Canary Islands. It’s searingly mineral with citrus and tropical notes and a divine saline finish, which makes you inclined to devour your next oyster.”

Finally, I turned to an Instagram friend, Brian McElaney, a software engineer from Philadelphia, and an oyster connoisseur who shares my love of the city’s Oyster House. McElaney suggests Picpoul from southern France: “It’s kind of what the oyster does for the wine. Picpoul is this searing acid bomb, but there is just enough fat in an oyster to tone that down so you can get at the florals underneath. The citrus and minerality don’t hurt it, either. Picpoul also tends to be relatively cheap and reliable. The first time it was recommended to me was in Ireland. And Irish oysters are worth the trip.”

What about your favorite oyster-and-wine pairing? Join our subscriber-only Slack community for more shellfish pairing convo.