What to drink with sushi: How about pinot noir?

Maybe it takes a Japanese winemaker to know, but at the suggestion of Akiko Shiba, whom we visited recently for a tasting in the Willamette Valley, we have been giving Pinot Noir a try with some nice Japanese dishes. Yesterday we tried one of her Pinots with some really excellent sashimi/sushi my wife made after visiting her favorite Seattle fish monger. I don’t know what it was, but the matc
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h exceed all expectations. The toro (fatty tuna) and hamachi (yellowtail) just sang with this wine which was young and fruity with silky smooth tannins and a rich umami note that really accentuated the same note in the fish. It really picked up the same taste in the soy sauce. The king salmon and octopus, while not quite as amazing a match, also showed very nicely, and even the scallops didn’t clash as you might expect. Champagne has been my normal choice for sushi and sashimi, but my eyes have been opened to new possibilities and I will definitely try pinot noir with sushi again. I suspect this match works best with the rich fatty fishes rather than shrimp, flounder etc.

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+1

Completely agree on all points. I look for wines with lower extraction and lower abvs, as it typically really help the pairing. I’m a fan of all sashimi, but I really enjoy mackerel when it’s done well and Pinot Noir can pair extremely well.

I also like Chenin Blancs as well, and would recommend trying the Anjou Blanc from Bourdignon in a similar setting.

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In my experience I have found the delicacy and vibrancy of the fish almost completely overwhelmed by Pinot…I find champagne, lighter beers with little or no hops, and high-acid unoaked white wines a better match.

En magnum? neener

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Red burg, white burg, champagne.

Cdp, preferably 2007 en mag.

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Young, slightly rough mid-range red Bordeaux, a good Cru Bourgeois from a good vintage at 5 - 10 years of age.

Dan Kravitz

Sercial Madeira.

Photos look good. Love toro and hamachi.
Glad the pairing worked well.

That fish looks amazing! I recently tried pairing sushi with a palisades petite sirah and was shocked at how well it works. I’ll give pinot a try. Some other reds can amplify unpleasant fishy notes but the PS did not at all.

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It depends on the style of sushi. There’s a one-star Michelin place in San Mateo. Very pricey. Strictly edomae style sushi. The first time I dined there, I suggested bringing Chablis with my friend who has dined there a lot. He did extensive testing and tasting of white and red Burgundy, Champagne, and sake with the chef. Champagne and sake were the only wines that worked well. He said anything else clashed. I brought Champagne.

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I’m a hundred points on this post. [cheers.gif]

What would work with sushi, but when dipped in some soy/wasabi and ate with pickled ginger? I usually just get some Saki when I eat that type of sushi.

I recently had sushi at this place that does wine pairings called Sushi Note in LA. They have a Somm who used to work at Republic I think and a few other places.

One of the course (I think it was scallops, Dry Aged Salmon & Dry Aged Snapper) she paired it with a 2018 Langhe. I told her I’m surprised by this by this and thought maybe a pinot would be better. She said a pinot would work but she thinks the young Nebbiolo would work well cuz of the Tannins.

For those that are wondering other wines poured:
2017 1er Chablis -
2019 Sangiovese Rose
1er Brut Champagne

What drink works well with sushi depends upon the sushi in question.
It’s a wide-ranging category of food, and depending upon the toppings, the sauces, the condiments used, even the rice, the ideal beverage will change quite a bit.
Doesn’t help that sushi is usually consumed in a seemingly hodgepodge style, with a little bit of this and then a little bit of that.

If you can find a good sushi place that is open to experimentation it’s fun to reverse engineer things and ask the chef to prepare a meal around wines… a progression of small samplers of specific sushi designed to complement a pre-selected list of wines.

What would work well is probably less soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

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You barely dap the soy sauce. I see people drunk the fish in like you are eating french fries with ketchup.

I like cool climate Syrah with sushi too - you won’t be disappointed

Sake

champagne/burgundy/sake/beer/tea not necessarily in that order.