In the Bay area, there are few culinary traditions as delicious as eating steamed, cracked crab during the winter months.

During crab season, the wharf in San Francisco comes alive with feisty crustaceans. Dungeness is not a dish for the delicate—to properly eat cracked crab, you’ve got to dig in, tearing back bits of shell to find every last white, succulent morsel of flaky and delicately buttery flesh.

At the fish counter you’ll get a wedge of lemon and a cup of cocktail sauce, but please—ignore these crude accompaniments. Fresh, steamed crab needs no adornment aside from a chilled glass of Sancerre. Eating fresh crab from the shell can be exhausting, and the refreshment of Sauvignon Blanc—gossamer light, flinty and fresh—is a perfect partner to parry the richness of the delectable Dungeness crab meat.

If you live on the West coast, you know the drill. (If you don’t, isn’t it about time you came to visit us at our retail store in Berkeley?) Pull out an old newspaper and spread it on the table. Throw a few Dungeness crabs in the pot, and with some salt, watch them boil. Warm a crusty loaf of sourdough, put a bottle (or two) of 2004 Domaine Pastou Sancerre on ice. Grab a nutcracker and plenty of napkins. Drink up, and dig in!