Pairings | Shellfish

The best wines to pair with crab

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on July 12 2024 at 17:42

Crab is one of the most delicious kinds of shellfish and the perfect foil for a crisp white wine. But there are other crab dishes that pair better with a fuller-bodied white or even a red.

In this post I’ll dive into my top wine pairings for different preparations of crab, including popular dishes like

Dressed crab
Crab bisque
Thai crab cakes
Deep fried softshell crab

As always, it’s not just about the crab but how it’s prepared and the other flavours involved...

Top wine pairings with crab

Dressed crab

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Comments: 5 (Add)

Craig Metcalfe on June 7 2022 at 00:19

May I suggest pairing an aged dry Australian Riesling with Mud Crab or Moreton Bay Bug. With Thai Fish Cakes, I recently tried an Australian Delatite Dead Man's Hill Gewurztraminer and really enjoyed a wine I hadn't tasted in about 10 years.

Nick Brett on June 5 2019 at 18:17

Are we allowed to ditch the crab entirely and just go for the Sancerre?

kay r on June 24 2015 at 14:05

Yes hunter valley semillon is massively underrated and is a nice change from the nz sauvignon overload.

Fiona Beckett on June 24 2015 at 13:23

I stand corrected, David. You will see there is now a Hunter Valley semillon suggestion ;-) You may also enjoy the pairings in this separate semillon post http://www.matchingfoodandwine.com/news/pairings/the-best-food-matches-for-smillon-and-smillon-sauvignon-blends/

David Porter on May 8 2013 at 04:42

Fiona I am beginning to believe that you have never taken the time to explore the wonerful world of seafood and Hunter semillon. This is shame for such an influential food/wine matching author. Given the wonderful metamorphosis that young zesty citrus semillons undertake to mature as wonderful mouth filling smooth honey citrus wines I can't believe you can't find a place for them in yor pantheon of food matchings. Oh and don't forget the semillon stickies.

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