There are people out there who'd say that drinking wine with sushi instead of downing Japanese beer or sake is nothing short of blasphemous. Of course, none of those people is me.
Sure, beer and sake are obvious choices at Japanese restaurants, where wine lists are often notoriously lame or nonexistent. But what to drink when at home? For me, that's where the wine and sushi combo makes the most sense. I just order myself a mess of sushi from my favorite raw fish emporium and open up a bottle of whatever I've got lying around the house.
On such occasions I've discovered that wine is actually a better match for sushi than beer or sake. That's because wine has the power to enhance sushi's flavor, while beer and sake simply stand back and let the sushi take center stage. Wine's complexity and inherent compatibility with food take the pairing concept to a higher level.
Although finding a wine to match the combination of delicate raw fish, sweet sushi rice, spicy wasabi and salty soy sauce may seem tricky, it's actually easier than you'd think. RED OR WHITE?
When choosing the ultimate sushi wine, the old "red wine with red meat, white wine with fish" rule still holds true. Although reds can be wonderful with grilled fish, they tend to overpower the delicate flavor of the raw variety. (If you must have red wine, try something like Beaujolais or a very light pinot noir.)
STYLE
Crisp, clean wines work better with sushi than rich, intensely flavored wines. If there's too much going on in your glass, the sushi's subtle flavor may not be able to compete. Think sauvignon blanc, sparkling wine or a crisp chardonnay from Carneros or Burgundy.
SWEETNESS
Fear not the gewurztraminer. Wines with a touch of sweetness tend to be excellent with spicy foods like wasabi-smeared sushi. Even if you don't normally like sweet wines, you'll be amazed how well they work with sushi.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Sure, pairing tips are nice, but how well do they hold up in the real world with real sushi? To find out, I recruited a couple of like-minded friends to join me in a little sushi and wine pairing experiment at our local sushi hangout.
In the name of hard-hitting investigative reporting, we sampled seven varieties of sushi with five different wines. Our sushi selection included maguro (tuna), hamachi (yellowtail), spicy tuna roll, sake (salmon), California roll (crab and avocado with fish eggs), Kamikaze roll (yellowtail, scallions and avocado) and unagi (eel). We washed down our sushi delights with a white wine from France's Rhone Valley, a riesling/gewurztraminer/pinot blanc blend from Alsace, a California fume blanc, a California chardonnay and an Italian merlot. (Ain't research tough?!)
Following is a summary of our findings, in order of overall preference: Riesling /gewürztraminer /pinot blanc blend: Great with the maguro. The sweetness of the wine cut through the spiciness of the wasabi very nicely. For the same reason, it was excellent with the spicy tuna roll. The wine was deemed "a tasty match" for the hamachi, and everyone agreed it was "wonderful" with the California roll and "excellent" with the Kamikaze roll. The only disappointments were the salmon and unagi. This wine was the clear winner!
Fume blanc: The wine was a little dry for the maguro, but we loved it with the hamachi. One taster was inspired to remark, "Damn it, that was good!" after trying it with the spicy tuna. It was "excellent" with both the Kamikaze roll and unagi, and "good" with the sake and California roll. This one tied for second place, along with the chardonnay.
Chardonnay: The chard was good with the maguro and hamachi, but disappointing with the salmon. It matched surprisingly well with the spicy tuna roll, and everyone thought it paired well with the California roll and unagi. The wine was also good, "but not amazing," with the Kamikaze roll.
Rhone white: This wine was fabulous with the maguro -- refreshing and clean. It also did well with the hamachi and spicy tuna, though these pairings were "nothing to write home about." We all liked it with the salmon, and loved it with the California and Kamikaze rolls. The wine was a bit too dry for the unagi.
Merlot: This wine was awful with the maguro, but surprisingly good with the hamachi. After sampling it with the spicy tuna, one taster advised, "Don't ever try this at home!" Similar warnings were issued for the salmon and California roll. It was declared "pretty good" with the Kamikaze roll and "excellent" with the unagi, due to the barbecue sauce. Not surprisingly, this one came in last place.
With the exception of the merlot, I'd heartily recommend any of the above wines as great companions for sushi. But then, for sushi freaks and wine geeks like me, even the bad combinations are still pretty damn good.
