Wine designed to match sushi

by Jonathan M. Forester, Posted Nov 13th 2006 @ 2:05PM

A Japanese woman, Yako Soto, who trained in wine making in Spain and works for Freixenet, felt that there were no wines that paired well with sushi. So she spent a year experimenting and came up with a wine she designed specifically to go well with sushi (which we have mentioned here on Slashfood before). At first this sounds like an easy task. Wouldn't any light white wine be good? But then if you think about it you realize it's not that easy. You have salty soy sauce, the spicy bite of wasabi, tart and sweet pickled ginger, mild fish and strong fish, seaweed, miso, and more. These are a lot of very different types of flavors for a wine to play off of, a difficult task to say the least. I make sushi at home and have tried to drink a glass of wine with it but most wines really don't go well at all. The closest I came was with a pinot grigio, and even then it wasn't great. I have to say that's my fault since I don't care very much for very light wines. Well this wine, called Oroya, is supposed to pair excellently with sushi, just as it was created to. This got me thinking again about wine and sushi.

Recently I was at a wine expo and tried a New Zealand sauvignon blanc that I felt was very unusual. It was light and had a medium acid level which normally bores me, but this time I really liked it. Mostly because it had the most interesting flavors going on, the main one was a non-spicy version of jalapeno and habanero chile's, followed by a long finish of pomelo (related to grapefruit.) I will have to track down this wine and try it with sushi because I think it just may be a happy union. When I do I'll report back.

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Filed Under: Lush Life, Happy Hour, Did you know?, Drink Recipes
Tags: did you know, europe, oroya, sushi, wine, yako soto, YakoSoto

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-13-2006 @2:23PM liz said... i've heard that dry champagnes and proseccos work with asian food.

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With Asian food in general yes, but the high acid in sparkling wines, especially champagne doesn't pair well with sushi. --JMF--
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11-13-2006 @2:33PM j said... wine that pairs with sushi is called sake
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Actualy, in Japan traditionally sake is not drunk with sushi. The Japanese believe that would be incorrect because it would mean rice was being served twice during the meal. Usually beer or tea are drunk wjile eating the sushi. The sake would either be drunk earlier or not at all. Sake is drunk when eating small non-rice based dishes in an Izakaya. --JMF--
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11-13-2006 @3:12PM Lynne said... What if you like wine but don't like sake? Has anyone tried this wine with sushi? It sounds pretty available and affordable (10 bucks is a great price, unless you're stuck on two-buck Chuck). Sounds like something I would try.
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11-14-2006 @10:36AM Amy said... Sake is indeed traditionally drunk with sushi in Japan. It's true that there are purists who don't like to drink sake (or any kind of alcohol, including beer) with rice, but they tend to make an exception for sushi. Speaking of exceptions, tea is not traditionally drunk with sushi (it's supposed to come after the meal) but plenty of people go ahead and have tea and sushi together anyway.

There is little consensus on what is "traditional" here in Japan, so I hardly think Japanese food lovers abroad need to worry about it too much.

Me? I think Prosecco and demi-sec Champagne go wonderfully with basic sushi. A certain amount of acidity is needed to balance the vinegar in the rice and cut through the fat of oilier types of fish. Gevurtztraminer, off-dry Riesling, Pinot Grigio, and yes, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can be great too. But this is with standard, (dare I say traditional?) fish and shellfish based sushi, on rice made with the minimum amount of seasonings, with a modest amount of wasabi, and just the lightest sprinkling of salt or dip in soy sauce. Add strong New World-style condiments and wacky toppings, and all bets are off. Sake is a far safer choice than any wine.

Sorry to lengthen an already-long comment, but Oroya is hardly original. There is a French wine called "Sushi wine" available here that is almost always sold out. It does so well that I suspect Freixenet is not so much interested in matching wine to sushi as it is in increasing its sales.
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11-14-2006 @11:15AM Lord Jezo said... I went to the store last night here in NJ that I frequent and they could not find the product listed in their catalog. They are going to ask their distributor if they can even get it.

In the mean time, anyone know where else I can order some?
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12-01-2006 @10:29PM Mike Brand said... I've just returned from a sashimi dinner and tried Oroya Sushi Wine as it was on the wine list. I found it to be too sweet. I prefer a grassy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
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12-21-2006 @7:18AM Lord Jezo said... It took me a while but I finally managed to get the wine special ordered and set out to try it with some sushi..

http://www.78west.com/wordpress/?p=147

It was pretty good. A very light flavor with no after taste, which might have been the goal of the wine. Give you a light and sweet experience but not let it get in the way of the food.
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