The Absolute Best Wine To Pair With Crab Cakes

Not all crab cakes are exactly alike, especially once you start adding in new and interesting sauces to the mix. But if you're looking for a standout wine to go with your tasty seafood morsels you won't do better than a New Zealand sauvignon blanc. But let's take a step back and talk about how we got there.

The first thing you'll want to decide is if you should choose a red or white wine. With very few exceptions, seafood pairs better with white wines. Fish and crab are light on the palate. When fresh, they bring a bright saltiness to the plate that doesn't weigh you down when you're done the way a steak might. So we want to pair the brightness of the dish with a bright white wine.

There are plenty of white wines to choose from, so how do you narrow it down? Well, let's think about the flavor notes of the crab cake. It's crab meat, saltines or panko bread crumbs, and some herbs and spices, so we have the seafood taste, a chewy and crunchy texture, and a complex botanical finish. If we go with a wine that is more subdued, we can let the crab cake shine; however, the wine may come across as dull and vice versa. A New Zealand sauvignon blanc is the perfect balance. It's complex enough to compete without overpowering and its iconic tropical fruit notes pair wonderfully with the breezy ocean vibes of nearly any style of crab cake.