The Best Wine To Pair With Crab Cakes

Crab cakes, the Baltimore dish that's Duff Goldman's Super Bowl staple, should probably be paired with another Charm City icon, National Bohemian beer. Natty Bo may not be easy to come by outside of Maryland, and not everyone likes to have a beer with their meal. If you're more of a wine drinker, that raises a question: What wine goes best with crab cakes? You'll need to find something that won't overwhelm the mild, sweet crab meat while being bold enough to stand up to the crunchy coating.

Wine experts recommend a variety of matches, including dry chardonnay, semi-sweet riesling, and even sangiovese, which is a light and fruity red. The most restaurant-worthy pairing, however, is sauvignon blanc because it's not too oaky, not too sweet, and, while mildly acidic, not too tart. As Goldilocks would say, it's the "just right" wine for just about any shellfish dish, making it the best choice for accompanying crab cakes.

If you used to enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner, but you've given it up for Dry January, Lent, or any other reason, you may feel slightly wistful about the fact that you may not get to try pairing sauvignon blanc with crab cakes. Well, that's not the case since there are many high-quality, non-alcoholic sauvignon blancs that will complement your crab cakes just as well as their higher-octane counterparts.

Wirecutter found Surely sauvignon blanc (considered non-alcoholic but not alcohol-free at under 0.5% ABV) to be tart, fruity, and easy to drink. Fre sauvignon blanc, another non-alcoholic option, made Wine Enthusiast's list of top non-alcoholic wines, as did the 0% ABV Giesen Marlborough sauvignon blanc. The latter was also Liquor.com's pick for best non-alcoholic (and alcohol-free) white wine. Our choice for a non-alcoholic sauvignon blanc that's better than the boozy kind is Starla, a wine blend that mixes colombard and sauvignon blanc grapes.