Here’s another question from Joe S. III, “What type of wine is best served with sushi? Being that it’s fish I feel like white would be the answer but I usually have a class of red and find that they compliment each other nicely. Thoughts?”
Who doesn’t love sushi? It is so fresh, light, delicate,healthy(if you can keep your consumption below 20 pieces) and it is also a food that inspires conversation. Aside from sake, there are some great wines out there that can accompany a nice plate of sushi and edamame. The only enemy to a great pairing are the soy sauce and wasabi. The strong wasabi flavor coupled with the acidic and salty soy sauce are not good friends of wine. I suggest using them in moderation to better taste the finer flavors of the fish.
Joe, you said that you liked drinking red wine with sushi. While I wouldn’t particulary recommend this, if it fits you, then by all means drink up. I’m not here to tell you guys what to do or what not to do. My goal is to open up your minds and palates to everything that wine has to offer. If you like drinking red wine with sushi, then by all means go for it! Im just asking that you try a different red every time. Try some Beujolais or very light Pinot Noir to stir things up.
Here’s one combination that I bet no one has tried yet, Champagne and Franciacorta (fran cha korta). YES, I said Champagne. Sparkling wines are phenomenal with sushi! We all know Champagne and that doesn’t need an introduction, but Franciacorta is something I haven’t even heard of until I came to Italy. This sparkling wine is the Italian equivalent to Champagne and is usually less expensive. The word Franciacorta literally means “short France”. Anyway, since they are both made in the traditional method( explaining traditional method will take up a whole post so I will do it at 
another time) they have really great flavors of raw bread dough, bread crust, yeast, fruits, flowers and minerals to just name a few. The fine bubbles and great acidity of these sparkling wines do a really nice job of cleansing your mouth and getting you ready for the next piece. These wines are a perfect pairing with unagi ( smoked and grilled eel sushi ).
OK, on to some still white wines. Clean, crisp and fresh whites are what we are looking for here. You want to compliment the delicacy of the sushi, not mask it. White wines with a touch a sweetness, do a great job of contrasting some of the salty flavors from the soy sauce. Look for some reason Riesling from Germany with “Kabinett” written on the label. Kabinett designates the sweetness of German Riesling. This is driest variety, but it still contains a touch of residual sugar in most cases. These Rieslings have great acidity, minerality, apple and pear flavors, along with a touch of sweetness that pairs great with sushi.
Here’s a little something from Austria that I love with sushi, it is called Gruner Veltliner. These are truly bargain wines and are great summer “porch wines.” Very light and refreshing, most of these carry a distinct bean or lentil flavor that meld perfectly with the rice of sushi. Other flavors include, apple, citrus, minerals,smoke and some floral undertones that wrap everything up nicely. Great wines can be found in the 10-15 dollar range. A definite MUST try!
Here are some others: Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc, Gavi, Muscat , and heck try some Gerwurtraminer (GWT) from Alsace. GWT have more alcohol, less acid, and are more intense than the rest of the whites I have mentioned. They have exotic floral and spicey flavors that may go well with the added soy sauce and wasabi. Some GWT’s also have a touch of sweetness which makes for a good contrast. If you are bringing more than one bottle, always start with the sparkler then go with lower alcohol wines first and work your way up. Enjoy and have fun!
In Bordeaux,France, these bottles denote the use of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. White wines which use this shape are made from Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle. Bordeaux wines are usually long lived which is why the shape came into being. After long periods of cellaring, these wines will produce a lot of sediment. The steepness and height of the shoulders are able to catch the sediment when the wine is being poured. The flat sides also allow the wines to stack and cellar comfortably. This bottle shape is also used a lot in America and in Italy as well.
This shape, with a slightly wider base, sturdier frame and gently sloping shoulders hails from Burgundy. Bottles like this are filled with Pinot Noir (red) and Chardonnay(white). These bottles shapes seems very elegant to me. They don’t have sharp edges, they look gracefull and seem to have a more feminine quality about them. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines are very elegant and round yet, can still deliver through a full body and an intense depth of flavor.
The pressure in Champagne bottles is between 70 and 90 pounds per square inch. That is about 2-3 times the pressure in your cars tires and about equal to the pressure in the tires of a double decker bus! The glass for this wine must be thicker, the base wider and the punt deeper. The punt adds much needed stregnth to the bottle, this is the reason why some bottles have bigger punts than others. Here’s a good way to make money off of your friends. Bet you friend that you can drink from a wine bottle with out opening it. Now all you have to do is find a bottle with a large punt, pour water into it, drink and collect your money. Thanks Stephanie for teaching me this joke. This picture also shows the range of sizes fr Champagne and other wine bottles. The second one from the left is the standard .750mL.
There is wide variety of wines that use this bottle and all of them are white and can range from totally dry to totally sweet. Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gerwurtraminer(GWT), Muscat, and Pinot Blanc are some of the common varieties. This shape is longer, almost flat shoulders, sexier, and usually has a smaller punt. This shape reminds me of a tall sexy girl with gentle curves and an essence of classiness, reminiscent of the wines in these bottles.
Medium thickness in crust and probably more than average use of sauce and mozzarella. Not a bad pizza, usually. Because of the oillyness and the extra cheese situation, this slice calls for something a little heavier than a white wine. I am going to introduce a wine that I’m sure pretty much everyone reading this has never tried before, the under rated and undervalued wines made from the Cabernet Franc grape. These wines from the Loire ( l’wahr) Valley in France typically roll in from 10-20 bucks. Great values can be found in the 15 dollar range. These wines, because of the cool climate maintain a refreshing acidity that is great at cutting through the cheese and matching the acidic strength of the sauce and most vegetable toppings. These wines are light to medium bodied, fully dry, but with fresh fruit and vegetable flavors that can accompany a slice of pizza perfectly. Just ask your local wine dude for Cabernet Franc from France and I am sure he will point you in the right direction. Look for wines from Chinon( shee nohn) and Bourgueil(boor guh’y); they produce the best quality.
A medium crust with a good charred character. Easy on the sauce and only spots of mozzarella with a touch of basil. So simple and elegant, yet light, pleasantly filling and delicious. I highly recommend finding pizza like this some where in the US. Got pizza from Napoli, so why not get wine from this area as well. It is called Asprinio di Aversa. There are two styles: a dry still white wine and a dry spumante. These wine might be hard to find, so if you cant find it try a prosecco which is also a dry and and inexpensive sparkler.
