Crab and chardonnay

The first Dungeness crab of the season came in this week, and as last year there was none, I jumped on it.
Chardonnay and Dungeness crab are, I think, made for each other.
The wine I opned tonight was a truly excellent Joseph Swan Hawk Hill Vineyard Chardonnay '12. Bright tart apple and citrus fruit, just enough oak to give the taste a floor, pretty lemon color and a long smooth finish. If I had another bottle, I wouldn't be upset at keeping it for another couple of years. That kind of wine. Expensive, too. $40.50 with my club discount; worth every penny.

I did the same thing except we drank a 2009 Mt Eden chard. I'll confess Mt Eden is my favorite CA chard and the 2009 did not disappoint. Good acid not too much oak, long finish. Great to have the crab season in full swing.

Sounds great. I wish we had them in Florida. We now have stone crabs which I don't like nearly as much. But I would totally go with a white Burgundy.

Sounds great. I wish we had them in Florida. We now have stone crabs which I don't like nearly as much. But I would totally go with a white Burgundy.

No argument, we do drink down now & then and drink a Corton Charlie. One has to get by the best way they can now & then.

Try a viognier or chenin blanc that claims to be dry (or a French expression) with the stone crab.
Half a century ago when I was in the Army in Maryland, blue crabs and beer was the recipe. I was in the Army. It was cheap beer, but the crabs were good, especially in softshell season.

Try a viognier or chenin blanc that claims to be dry (or a French expression) with the stone crab.
Half a century ago when I was in the Army in Maryland, blue crabs and beer was the recipe. I was in the Army. It was cheap beer, but the crabs were good, especially in softshell season.

Soft shell Blue crabs cooked properly, it doesn't get any better than that.

When living in Sonoma, that lovely wine region just west of Disney-Napa, we would often have the Ramey Chardonnay with our Dungeness. Good companions, they were.

[David M. Bueker]

Ramey chardonnay with crab, Ramey Chardonnay with lobster...it's all good.

Funny thing about Chards (at least in Sonoma County.) There are more good Chards than I can drink, vastly more that range from well, ok, down to DNPIM!!. And price is not a very good indicator. A couple of the worst Chards I walked away from were being offered for around $50. And I can get Chard that is, to my aging palate, as good as Rod Berglund's, for about $25.
BTW, Dry Creek Vineyards has upped their game in the last couple of years. Tom Hill is, of course, right. As always; just listen to him.

I lived in Maryland, near DC, for three years and loved the blue crabs and soft-shelled crabs but found Old Bay seasoning too spicy for me. I like lobster or crab with lemon or lemon/butter. I did enjoy a crab party where we were in a living room with furniture pushed to the side and floor covered with large garbage bags and kettles of crab with mallets to go at it.

Ramey chardonnay with crab, Ramey Chardonnay with lobster...it's all good.

If I didn't have about a case and a half of Ramey chards in my cellar i could disagree with your post. Seriously good juice.
It's a good thing Ramey is not from Napa or they would charge a great deal more because of it's ability to sell so fast.
Sonoma is that valley to our west so it's rumored in the wine business. I'll have to check it out now that Hoke has mentioned it in his post.

West for you, East for me to Sonoma Valley, but Highway 12 is such a hassle that I don't get over to the good wineries there all that often.

West for you, East for me to Sonoma Valley, but Highway 12 is such a hassle that I don't get over to the good wineries there all that often.

I live just East of the Silverado Trail in the valley and from May through Sept. we avoid 29 like the plague.

I hear you.

Second crab of the season was, as so often, not quite as sparkling as the first. I think that's more in the mind than the crab. After all, after last year's season of no crab at all....
Chard tonight was Hawkes '14, Alexander Valley. Light and mild for Hawkes, whose chard is usually very much like a lightly oaked Chablis, not nearly as lush as most California chards. Looking at my spreadsheet, that seems to be the story for the '14 vintage at Hawkes.