Sampling Jax’s wine and cocktails

The bar at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar is a fascinating scene, with the bartenders and the shuckers working side by side with a precise, balletic energy. Pry your eyes away from that elaborate dance, and you’ll find an equally appealing array of drink options.

The Jax cocktail menu riffs on such classic cocktails as the Manhattan, the Moscow Mule, the Negroni and the Old Fashioned. Some of those, in fact, improve upon the originals. There are house-infused vodka-fizz cocktails, along with a surprising bounty of adventurous tequila and mezcal drinks. And the new J. Rieger whiskey, a local spirit, shows up in the Irish coffee.

The wine list is approachable, even for a restaurant that offers a $140 Osetra caviar plate and a $170 chilled seafood platter. Most of the bottles go for less than $40, and the selection keeps the restaurant’s menu firmly in mind.

WINE

La Chapelle de la Bastide Picpoul de Pinet (Languedoc, France), $8/$32

The French produce this wine with oysters in mind. Fresh and lightly acidic, it’s one of Languedoc’s most famous whites. In its sharp, bright profile, you can practically taste the limestone soil and the salty ocean that these vineyards face.

Jax Fish House Sineann pinot noir

(Willamette Valley, Oregon), $13/$52

Forget what you think you know about red wine with seafood. I’m saying you can have red wine with seafood — with your best bet a light-bodied pinot noir such as this one, custom-made for Jax by Oregon’s Sineann Winery. It’s heavy on the nose, with dark cherry fruit and currant that are more tart than sweet on the palate. It’s a worthy partner for, say, snow crab.

Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko

(Cyclades, Greece) $44

You don’t see a lot of Grecian wines in these parts, but it’s flavor, not novelty, that makes this Assyrtiko exciting. The profile is citrus first, then butter, with a complex mineral finish. It’s like a sauvignon blanc pretending to be a chardonnay pretending to be a pinot noir, and it works with everything on the menu here.

COCKTAILS

Winter Solstice, $9

One of bar manager Kenny Cohrs’ originals, the Winter Solstice is a shrub cocktail, fusing fresh raspberries, vodka, apple-cider vinegar and honey. Those ingredients are diluted with water and served hot, with a lemon twist. This little beauty suggests a liquefied candy apple (with that vinegar bite at the finish) in both color and pleasure, but it’s a lot easier to consume.

Mexican Stand-Off, $10

What happens when you mix jalapeño-infused Herradura Silver tequila with Sombra Mezcal, agave and muddled lime and cilantro? A sweat-inducing, smoky swallow of the desert. This drink leaves your mouth smarting even as it quenches your thirst. Which makes it oddly ideal to go with a mess of peel-and-eat shrimp.

Wandering Soul, $11

This Manhattan alternative, with Bulleit bourbon, Benedictine, Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur and whiskey-barrel-aged bitters — settled around a single, enormous ice cube in a rocks glass — hits you with oak and pine aromas, like a hug from a big tree. After that comes a calming, earthy sweetness. It’s like you’ve just come home to a roaring fire and a loving embrace, your wandering happily concluded.