Lobsters have long been my favorite vegetable (closely followed by duck). While for me, the pinnacle is steamed with butter accompanied by corn on the cob, I sometimes go for the easy option and buy knuckle and claws, and make lobster rolls, with celery and homemade mayonnaise. My wine pairing was not great so I have been experimenting. My new love, Schafer Frolich Felseneck gg was a tad acidic,
and the flavors were unhappy pairing; other failures included white DDC, and an Assyrtiko which was close but the alcohol was intrusive.
Which brings me to Chablis. I didn’t think the minerality would work, the Schafer Frohlich clashed horribly, but it seemed all was forgiven. The sea flavors and salinity of the Chablis worked beautifully with a Billaud Simon Vaudesir 2019. Sheer class but not cheap.
Chablis, particularly unoaked, works great with lobster. What doesn’t work, for me at least, is Chardonnay with any amount of new oak. Butter on Lobster, with new oak is a big fail in my experience.
I always liked bubbles, beer or a crisp white with bugs.
My favorite west coast spiny lobster prep was Puerto Nuevo style; halved, grilled and served with rice, beans, drawn butter, fresh tortillas and all the Mexican sides. Second would be garlic herb butter, poured into the halved lobster and into the freezer for about 1/2 hour and the butter hardens, then over hot coals. When the butter melts it’s done. Years of diving for them (had a mini tank at home for a few seasons), spent a night in the ICU. No more crustaceans (allergic)
After the ER visit, I realized I had tiny reactions for years that I paid no attention to (like a mini bb pellet in my lip w/ tingling), then one weird lower lip swelling (angioedema) then a major one (entire face).
I had that when I was young, with associated hives, and apparently grew out of it. Allergies are crazy. I went and tested a few years back and they had to give me the antihistamine control twice and when I didn’t react to it at all they told me I could leave as nothing was going to make me react.
Well, I’m a native Californian, and absolutely love Dungeness, but these are fight’n words.
Really, it depends on if you’re on your 5th roll in 5 straight days. On that first day, lobster wins, hands down. But after a few of them, I’m ready to move on. Dungeness, however, I never get tired of
What a fun wine pairing to think about! I tend to go with a sparkling wine when it comes to lobster, but I’ll give a Chablis or other unoaked or less-oaked chard a try next time around. You’re making me think that a full experiment is in order with lots of lobster rolls, and lots of different whites.
As a true son of Maine, I want to put in a plug for a crisp and bitter beer to go with lobster rolls. Many many great local breweries in Maine to explore, so that would be a fun quest…
I haven’t tried it but I can believe that a lightly sweet Kabinett would work.
Chablis is a good call, but my favorite pairings are Champagne and moderately aged (~8-12 years) Gruner Veltliner. The Gruner didn’t seem like an obvious choice before I had it, but it’s really a special pairing.
