Match of the week

Crab pasta with chilli and Mission (Pais)

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on March 10 2025 at 19:22

The one thing you’d think you could be sure of is that white wine would be the best pairing for crab but a meal last week at Toklas in London proved that isn’t necessarily the case.

The sommelier Agustina Basilico recommended a glass of 2019 La Malinche Mission from Sabelli-Frisch’s Somers Vineyard in Makelumne River, California.

Despite being only 12.5% it was intense enough to carry the spicy tonnarelle* with crab and chilli without contributing any jarring notes of its own. I think the fact the sauce contained a fair amount of brown meat also helped.

Mission, which is known in Chile as Pais, is an appealingly light wine, comparable as the importer Wanderlust Wine says on its website to a light Grenache.

It’s fruity but quite tart (think redcurrants and cranberries) and could be lightly chilled.

Unfortunately it seems to be out of stock in the UK currently though you can buy the 2018 if you’re in NYC at Village Wine Merchants for $29.99. (I was actually amazed the 2019 was still so fresh.)

Or obviously go and drink it at Toklas

For other crab pairings see The Best Wines to Pair with Crab

*Tonnarelle is a like a slightly thicker, squarer spaghetti and can be used in similar dishes. You can buy it from Sous Chef in the UK.

I ate at Toklas as a guest of the restaurant. (In case you’re wondering why I was eating chips with pasta they were served with my colleague’s Dover sole!)

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