Aboard the Scarlet Lady, passengers glide through Lydia Ann Channel and past the second-oldest lighthouse in the state toward a mariculture frontier. “This is the ninth permitted oyster farm in Texas,” said the man on the deck. “My name’s Bill Streiber; that’s my wife Amelia, somewhere back there with the oyster hat on; my daughter with the camera; and my son with the shucking knife. This is our family farm.”
Texas Clear Water Oyster Gardens covers a 2-acre patch of Aransas Bay with 38 cages holding over a million oysters. “The oysters you guys will be getting today were harvested yesterday,” Streiber told the Sip & Shuck passengers.
Kendall Owens of Deep Sea Headquarters added: “As we’re enjoying the oysters, we’re going to be drinking a Sauvignon Blanc by Chris Hamilton. He’s from Corpus, but his vineyard is in Napa, so it is a true Napa Sauvignon Blanc: really lovely, nice and tangy, goes perfectly with the oysters.”
The parallels between wine and oysters make for an educational pairing. “An interesting thing about oysters, especially farm oysters, is that they pick up the flavor of the water they’re in—very much like wine,” Streiber said. Just as terroir explains the effect of the terrain on a varietal of wine, “we have our term called merroir: It picks up the flavor of the sea.”
The Clear Water flavor profile offers a salty start, mineral middle and sweet finish, with tumbler-chipped shells that produce the deep cups popular with restaurants. Scarlet Lady guests gain exclusive access to Amelia Streiber’s version of mignonette—white wine vinegar, black pepper, jalapeno and cilantro—affectionately known as Amelia-nette.
Sip & Shuck also works with Sink Your Shucks to recycle the shells from the oysters eaten aboard. “They’re going to go back into the water,” Streiber joked, warning that the turnaround is not immediate: “Not now. Don’ll throw them overboard. There’s a collection bucket.”
Aboard the 50-passenger sightseeing boat were a few volunteers from the community. “Our local Episcopal church minister, Father James, and his wife, Laura, asked if they could shuck the oysters,” said Beth Owens with Deep Sea. This was not the first time the priest from Trinity by the Sea had been out to the oyster farm. “Father James blessed the first planting,” Streiber said. “It’s not good luck that we are doing so well here; it’s the blessings that we received.”
That first planting, at the beginning of June 2024, followed two years of permitting. “Texas Parks and Wildlife is the main regulatory authority on this,” Streiber said, describing how oyster farmers must navigate a nautical map of natural oyster reefs, beds of seagrass and oil leases to stake their claim on the seabed. “That’s a long way of saying that I had no idea how good of a spot this was until we started getting those oysters,” Streiber explained. “I think we found the perfect spot.”
Contact: scarletladydolphincruise.com | clearwateroysters.com | chrishamiltoncellars.com
