Best wine to go with Dungeness crab?

[pipistrello]

What type of wine goes well with Dungeness crab? Any suggestions welcome (except Chardonnay please!) Also, does anyone know about other ways of eating crab apart from the usual lemon juice/cocktail sauce? I heard in China they eat it with raw ginger and hot ginger tea...
Thanks!

[alilsaucy]

Suave classico or off dry reisling; the former if there is garlic and - or olive oil, the latter if butter is more the lipid

[pikawicca]

The match I've been using for 40 years: Dungeness Crab and Sauvignon Blanc.

[alanbarnes]

Late to the party (and I like the OP's Cremant de Loire), but I've had Sauvignon Blancs that paired beautifully with Dungeness, and others that - well - didn't. Much as I enjoy the occasional grapefruit-run-over-by-a-lawnmower SB from New Zealand, it's a bad match for crab. FWIW.

[maria lorraine]

"grapefruit-run-over-by-a-lawnmower"

good

[pikawicca]

Yes, we call these breakfast wines.

[Bill Hunt]

Alan,

Good description. While I love NZ SB's (I know that is a major generalization, but you get the point?), I find them to not pair with the sweetness of crab, and also some other seafood items.

Hunt

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Thank you for bring this up. I have been meaning to make crab and your post reminded of the preparation I liked best. I roasted instead of fried but will try frying next time. If you have crab again:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/284804

As for wine I'd go for dry rose or pinot noir, but I am the last person to ask about pairing food and wine.

[ibstatguy]

no rec's for NV Blanc de blanc?

[maria lorraine]

Bubbles and Graves would be fine. The Picpoul also seems workable.

[Pigloader]

I'd wonder whether the Picpoul was too linear? I like the idea of white Bordeaux and German riesling. I've done S. African chenin --Ken Forrester's FMC-- w/ Dungeness, and it was pretty rockin, although maybe a touch on the rich side.

[pipistrello]

Thanks for your replies. In the end we had 2 bottles - a dry white called Picpoul de Pinet from Launguedoc and a bubbly brut called Tessier Crémant de Loire which was our favourite, it was sweeter than the first wine and complemented the crab beautifully.

[moto]

we just enjoyed a brut rose cava with our fresh (killed right on our stove top) crabs--the Spanish consume immense quantities of fresh seafoods and probably know the routine well.

[ibstatguy]

apropos of that observation, I'll add a suggestion for a white txakolina

[whiner]

It totally depends upon preperation. I trust Maria... frankly, I'm not a huge D. Crab fan, but for Maryland blue crab with butter preperations I like white Graves.

[maria lorraine]

Riesling. Preferably German or Alsatian.

Here's a similar thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/590797

[Bill Hunt]

Those are good ones. I have also had some domestic (US) fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs, and also some dry Chenins, that went very well. Chablis can also pair quite well, but as always, the exact prep might conter things a bit.

Hunt

[NoeMan]

For Thanksgiving, we always do pinot grigio and savignon blanc from a cooler full of ice and some cold water so it's slushy and the labels are coming off the bottles. It's just so nice with the crab and sourdough and mayo and lemon juice. Yum. The coldness is technically probably killing the flavor profile of the wines a bit, but with the food, it is killer.