Like most gourmet foods, hairy crab has multiple wine suitors. Because of the intensity of flavor and aromas, these crabs are best accompanied by an equally intensely flavored and perfumed wine.
The wines should also be dry and acidic to offset the richness of the meat and eggs and emphasize the freshness. In fact, when eating hairy crab the biggest wine discriminator is the vinegar dipping sauce.
Vinegar is served with hairy crab because it alleviates the fishiness and accentuates the freshness.
Across the broad spectrum of gourmet cultures, whether it’s the vinegar with the crab in China, lemon grass in Thai cooking or lemon sprinkled on a grilled fish in the West, all gourmet cultures use acidity to accentuate the freshness and desirable flavors of seafood.
A white wine with good acidity acts in exactly the same manner, awakening and helping to distinguish the most delicious and naturally sweet qualities of fish and shellfish.
When hairy crab is served with a lighter, not overly acidic vinegar, dry white wines and sparklers work beautifully.
Some of my preferred white wine partners are a young unoaked Chablis from Burgundy, an Albarino from Rias Byass, Spain, or a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. Sparklers are also great, especially with female crabs with plenty of roe. I recommend non-vintage Champagnes or a good Prosecco.
When hairy crab is served with robustly flavored vinegar many white wines and sparklers will clash with the vinegar or be overwhelmed. This also happens with hairy crab that is marinated in yellow wine. In these cases, the best solution is the Spanish fortified wine Sherry.
Sherry comes in many styles, but the best Sherries to match with hairy crabs are the delicate dry styles, specifically Manzanilla, Fino or Amontillado.
Manzanilla is the most delicate style of Sherry that’s aged under a very special type of flor that only grows in Sanlucar de Barrameda near the ocean. This straw colored, fresh and slightly salty wine wonderfully embellishes the freshness and natural flavors of the crab while the alcohol cleanses the mouth.
Fino is a pale golden colored wine that has more structure and weight than Manzanilla and makes a great companion to the most pungent specimens of hairy crab.
Like the Manzanilla, Fino accentuates the freshness of the crab and acts as a palate cleanser. The yeasty nature of many Finos also adds further flavor dimensions to the crab meat and roe.
Amontillado is a very special style of Sherry starting its life as a Fino undergoing biological aging, and then undergoes an oxidative aging process that imparts extra color, weight and complexity.
Many of my Chinese friends believe this amber colored Sherry tastes somewhat like a fine Shaoxing rice wine, but with more complexity and persistence. Should you want a slightly stronger wine to accompany your hairy crab then a bottle of Amontillado is your best choice.
