What did you drink at New Years? Was it a beer, white or red wine? I enjoyed a sparkling BC wine with a freshly cooked crab – and it was perfect!
But choosing a wine to go with the crab wasn’t as easy as 1,2,3. Mistakes are made with any dish, we just don’t tell you about them. But lessons are learned and this is how you get better at it.
So, for my crab dinner at New Years, I went with a couple of things, a Chenin Blanc from South Africa and a Sparkling White from BC.
When visiting Vancouver Island in the Fall, I also visited Zanatta Winery outside of Duncan. I was skeptical I will admit, but so pleasantly surprised. The winemaker has done a superb job on her sparkling brut wines. The Glenora Fantasia is made from 100% Cayuga grapes, and the winery is the only one in Canada growing these. Originally, they were created for the Finger Lakes wine region in New York State, but it didn’t take off as hoped.
This was a dry, fresh and vibrant sparkling wine, with lovely bubbles putting it in the medium body category. It paired really well with the crab by not being too citrusy, bready or minerally.
The second wine we tried was this Wild Olive, Old Vines Chenin Blanc. This was my whoops. It was a bit too refreshing with green apple and citrus notes (sounds just terrible doesn’t it?!) for the sweet, delicate and rich crab on our plates. Although a very delicious and refreshing white wine from South Africa, it was an unsuccessful date I set up! It was too much and overpowered the flavour of the crab.
So the next time your making crab for dinner and pairing wine, make sure you have at least one you are sure about and perhaps one you are unsure about, because mistakes are fun to make!
Until next time, eat crab and be happy. 🙂
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