Wine with sushi
Sushi is not one dish but ten: fatty salmon, lean tuna, sour rice, sweet unagi, with soy sauce and wasabi over everything. So the wine needs to be broad, not perfect. Acidity and a hint of sweetness do most of the work; anything with oak or serious tannin loses to the soy.
Three styles that work
- 1
Riesling Kabinett
Eight percent alcohol, plenty of acidity, a little residual sugar. Exactly the profile that calms wasabi and stops soy from winning. A Mosel Kabinett is also so light you can still do the maths at the till after two bottles.
- 2
Fino or Manzanilla
Umami seeks umami. Dry sherry aged under flor carries the same savoury, nutty layer as soy sauce and dashi, and in Japan they have known this longer than we have. With white-fish sashimi it is not an alternative but the best choice.
- 3
Blanc de Noirs
With fatty fish, salmon and toro, you want more body than a Blanc de Blancs gives. Pinot Noir and Meunier pressed off their skins deliver red fruit and a rounder mouthfeel, while the mousse keeps the rice fresh. Pick a Brut with low dosage, or the salmon turns sweet.
Without alcohol
Alcohol-free Riesling
Riesling survives dealcoholisation better than almost any other grape, because the acidity and aroma remain once the alcohol is gone. Kolonne Null Gelblack is the best I have tasted, and with sushi it does exactly what a Kabinett does. Press sample, verdict independent.
Frequently asked questions
Isn't sake simply better?
Often yes, and a good junmai is never wrong. But this page is about wine, and a Kabinett or fino gets closer to sake than you would think: low alcohol, umami, no tannin.
Which wine with spicy tuna and other hot rolls?
More residual sugar. A Spätlese or a demi-sec champagne puts out the sriracha; a dry wine turns up the heat.
No scores, but an opinion. The bottles I name I tasted myself; how each reached me is stated at the bottom of every review.