04/17/08 Food & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today the topic is food and wine pairing and with the resurgence of Riesling I was reminded of one of my favorite combinations  Riesling and crab cakes. Quite a few years ago while arranging a winemakers dinner with a chef in Seattle we determined that we wanted to serve an Asian style of crab cake for one of the dinner's courses. The chef created a crab cake seasoned with ginger and cilantro and we began trying it with several different wines. Most of the combinations were just okay until I left the table and returned with a bottle of white Riesling. It was perfect  in fact it was better than perfect. On another occasion I served crab cakes with a bit of a Cajun influence and once again none of the wines brought out the "WOW factor" quite as much as the Riesling. As time has gone by it doesn't seem to make any difference how I season my crab cakes they are always best with Riesling. The sweetness of the crab just seems to lend itself to Riesling in a way that it doesn't when served with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Viognier. I recommend you give it a try and see for yourself. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at Vine to Wine dot net and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.