wine and sushi

We had a feast of sushi last night with some great wines and great company. My wife and I brought a friend to meet Jud and Lisa at Yama, our favorite local BYOB sushi place. We slightly overordered as per usual, and we certainly had plenty of wine to go around despite the disappointment of a corked '96 DP. I took no notes, but here are some brief impressions from memory:

1996 Dom Pérignon: sadly, corked. Beneath the taint, I sensed that the wine was starting to show just the tiniest hint of toasty maturation, which was a contrast to the unyielding bottle I had a couple of years ago.

1996 Billecart-Salmon Grande Cuvée: generously brought by Jud and his wife as the other part of a pair of '96 Champagnes. The disappointment of the DP disappeared as I enjoyed the depth and complexity of this wine. It showed a good bit of red cherry and raspberry, combined with ripe apple and lemon, all accented by toast, floral notes, and some underlying minerality. There were plenty of layers to this beauty, which showed admirable evolution of flavor on the palate. The first sound wine was the consensus wine of the night. outstanding+.

2004 Pierre Peters Les Chetillons: classic Blanc de Blancs, with loads of steely mineral mingling with yellow apple, crisp pear, mild honeyed aromas emerging with air time, and still-subtle toast… The wine was very good when opened, but really not much better than the current release of the same producer’s NV. Later in the meal it had gained a bit of depth and even seemed to have gained some flavor intensity, bringing it, for me, right to the line of very good/outstanding. I think this wine will improve with a few years’ bottle age.

NV H. Billiot Cuvée Laetitia: Could we have had 2 flawed Champagnes in 1 night? I think we must have. This smelled and tasted like spicy mayonnaise, seasonings in New Orleans cooking, and sour beer. nothing to like here. I’ve never had this wine, but I believe the bottle was flawed. Reading through the CT notes, this does not seem typical at all.

1997 Dr Bürklin-Wolf Gaisböhl Riesling GC: This was killer right out of the gate, with loads of wet slate and smokey minerality supporting subtle layers of fruit, florals, spice, dusty earth, and “petrol”. I think the wine is right at its peak for my taste, with plenty of intensity, showing very openly and not holding anything back. outstanding.

2001 Dr Bürklin-Wolf Kirchenstück Riesling GC: Still pretty tight upon opening, this wine really blossomed over the course of the evening. Initially it was far surpassed by the Gaisböhl, but after an hour or so, this wine began to show the greatness of its potential and ended up at least equaling, if not slightly surpassing the previous wine. It was a more elegant and subtle versus the open, even up-front nature of the Gaisböhl. a beautiful wine that could use a good decant or just a few more years to really come into its own. outstanding.

NV René Geoffroy Rosé: disgorged July 2010. My second time with this wine, and it again proved to be a dry, mineral-driven style of rosé (which I like), with lots of chalk on the nose and palate, highlighting fresh red berry fruits that were quite restrained and not the least bit confected or candied. classy. a very good wine that was fantastic with our food, especially the spicy tuna and other things with sauces.

Equipo Navazos La Bota de Palo Cortado no. 21: All kinds of different nuts in here somehow do create a sense of layering of flavor, mingling with notes of yeast, dried apricot, and hints of dried orchard fruit. very good, and one of the best dry Sherries I have had, but not quite living up to the price tag. I think there’s better from this label.

I love red Burgs with sushi. And young barbera from Piemonte.

Sushi is all about high-acid whites for me. I don’t think there is a better wine for it than Champagne. The bubbles cleanse the palate so well. I’ve tried red Burgundy, and it works with some things, but for me it clashes with quite a few things as well.

I also think bubbles work great with sushi. But for me, nothing beats great sake and beer.

I’m with you, Lew!!

Wish I had some nice sashimi in front of me…

I am also a big fan of drier style Rieslings with Sushi, that and sparkling wine are my go to for sushi.

Boxler tokay goes great with smoked salmon sushi (then again, what doesn’t go great with a Boxler wine).
I find red Burgundy goes well with tuna / unagi, but stuff like halibut / cod (white fish, so to speak, with more delicate flavors) are happier with dry (or almost) riesling / muscadet. The other day we had a Lauer Kern pairing, which was a neat match, but then again, what doesn’t go…

+1

My favorite pairings with sushi are: high acid, dry Rieslings, red burgs, and then champs. Often wondered if I was the only one drinking red burgs with sushi. I also occasionally will do an oregon Pinot, like Brickhouse. Did try a white burg once - bad idea.

I tend not to open the Peters Chetillons on release - I find it needs some bottle age to show its class. And now that it’s a $100 wine it’s not worth sacrificing one for the sake of science.

+2

Great notes.
I particularly liked your comment on NV René Geoffroy Rosé and spicy tuna.

Tried this wine once, absolutely loved it, and just got a couple more last week. Maybe I’ll serve with a seared tuna with wasabi and soy. If I can find my TN later I’ll post it.

Agree wholeheartedly.

With sashimi, yes. With spicy sauces and a heavy dose of wasabi on a roll, not so much.

That’s good to know. I had read some notes mentioning its accessibility at this point, and since I’ve never had one, I decided to give it a try. I didn’t think it was a whole lot better at this point than the most recent disgorgement of the regular NV, so I’ll keep my hands off my other bottle for a few years. How much age do you generally like on a vintage such as '04 which is not one of the best for Champagne in general?

Hmmm, not sure that I can answer that because all the '04s that I’ve actually had were gorgeous, so the only reason I “know” it’s not a great Champagne vintage is because everybody says so. Regardless, I tend to find that the difference between a great Champagne vintage and a not-great one is much smaller than in other wine regions. Except for some of the greedy luxury brands that release wines in vintages that don’t merit it, I generally figure that if a Champagne has a vintage date on it, it’s going to do just fine in the cellar.

Last year the Peters '96 was beautiful but still young while the '98 was just plain still young. So if I’m going to prognosticate based on that I’d want to wait at least 8 years before opening a 2004, and probably twice that if you’re seeking real mature, aged flavors.

+3 I think the reason is because the best drink with sushi is not a direct “pairing.” IMO, it is all about cleansing the palate for the next fish. I’ve had good success with txakolis that very briny, excellent palate cleanser.

Sushi and wine go together very well.
Unfortunately, the standard way of ordering sushi–a little of this, a bit of that–means that you get a whole range of flavors crossing your palate in a very short time. It’s hard to find a wine that will match well with all those different toppings. Which is why palate cleansers (beer or sake or Champagne for us Americans, green tea for the Japanese) work well.

Given time I think it possible that sushi consumption patterns will evolve to become more wine-friendly.
What we know as “sushi” is a pretty recent invention, so its hardly as if tradition constitutes a major obstacle.

For my palate with sushi/sashimi: Sauvignon Blanc
Alternative: Stone Ruination IPA

Colin [dance-clap.gif]

Although I’ve heard and read about sake not being supposed to be served w/ sushi, I can’t remember any single Japanese friend or acquaintance that follows this. Actually, my brother’s wife (Japanese from Tokyo), my brother (studied college in Tokyo, fluent in Japanese) and regular drinking buddy (Japanese, from Tokyo) all have beer and/or chilled sake with sushi. Hiro-san, a Japanese friend who is chef-owner of Yashima located in Oshinko in the slopes of Mt. Fuji, I recall also had beer and/or chilled sake with sushi (well, white wine and champagne too).