Nino Barraco - Catarratto 2013

When life gives you oysters, break out the bubbles. Or crack open the Muscadet. That is at least the conventional wisdom. But last Thursday, life (well, The Remedy to be precise) gave me a stunning skin contact Catarratto from Sicily, followed seconds lat

 Every week, I select an orange wine (a white wine made with extended skin contact) that grabbed my attention. View the whole series here.

When life gives you oysters, break out the bubbles. Or crack open the Muscadet. That is at least the conventional wisdom. But last Thursday, life (well, The Remedy to be precise) gave me a stunning skin contact Catarratto from Sicily, followed seconds later by a large plate of my favourite molluscs. Was this going to work?

Orange wine and oysters didn't seem like obvious bedfellows, but actually it was perfect. The Catarratto brought out both the creaminess and the saline character of the oysters, holding its own all the while. The producer? Nino Barraco, a West Sicilian producer with a "back to the roots" ethic.

Catarratto doesn't have the greatest reputation in Sicily, being a bit of a workhorse grape in most parts of the island. Young, fresh fruity fare is normally about as good as it gets. Barraco adds a twist, first by doing almost nothing to get…