Where to eat Picpoul de Pinet in Montpellier: 3 editor picks

The white wine of the Thau lagoon shore, made from picpoul blanc on six communes behind Pinet. Lean, high in acid and faintly saline, it is treated locally as the automatic partner to a plate of oysters.

Picpoul, literally lip-stinger, has grown on the coastal plain since long before the appellation existed, surviving the phylloxera replanting because it suited the sandy soils close to the lagoon. It won its own AOC in 2013, carved out of the wider Coteaux du Languedoc. The vineyards sit within sight of the oyster tables, which is the whole point: the wine is bottled at low alcohol with sharp acidity precisely because that is what the local shellfish demands. Every Montpellier wine bar keeps one open, and every oyster counter in the city pours it by the glass.