What do people drink with sushi?

I'm with the other beverages crowd, but when forced to produce a wine to go with sushi (assuming nigirisushi) I'll go with Champagne, preferably ros. It's actually quite nice in my opinion.

Mark Lipton
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Champagne, Yes.

Or one of the simpler Gruner Veltliners (Anton Bauer "Gmork" tastes of lemon, lime, and green apple, and it seems to work well with a nice buttery hunk of toro). I'm fantasizing about the "hunk" of course...it's doled out in wan little slices down here in Appalachia.
 
Barbaresco. Yes, nebbiolo based Barbaresco is wonderful with the right type (and i dont know those types by memory, but mostly the more oily/fatty styles) of sushi. I'd say a light on its feet, floral and high toned selection is best, (Aldo Bianco, Cigliutti, DeForville, etc.)
 
So long as the thread has been resurrected maybe I can get some advice.

I recently learned that I'm a short drive from one of the largest Japanese markets on the east coast (Mitsuya) which apparently has some fantastic fresh fresh. I'm considering buying some, slicing it, and calling it sashimi.

Does that make sense or am I missing something here?

And I assume I should be careful to eat it the same day?
 
Jay,
No comment on slicing your own.
But with sashimi one of the best things I ever had was very old red Burgundy.
The theory is that the umami elements in each compliment each other; the function was they tasted so good together I was shocked.
Of course, this pairing precludes the use of wasabi.
Best, Jim
 
You'll need to charge $10 for each slice.

More seriously, doesn't have to be eaten the same day, depending on how it's been treated on its journey. It's not as if most fish are only a day away from Tsukiji. I would ask for advice from the slingers, and err on the side of caution.
 
And I'm starting to like black and tan with sushi (not sashimi) - Yebisu and Asahi black. Only trouble is that not many sushi-yas will have both, so I BYO (typically the latter).
 
Or chardonnay and savagnin blends that aren't too sous voiley. A little is fantastic with sushi (sashimi less so) but not too much. Montbourgeau's basic l'Etoile is a serious winner with sushi of all types.
 
I think the razor-sharp chard/savagnin blend I had a couple of days ago would be quite the ticket. (05 Bindernagel "QV.")

As for the fish: is freezing necessary, to kill off parasites?
 
originally posted by JSchwartze:
Jurassic Chardonnay!Or chardonnay and savagnin blends that aren't too sous voiley. A little is fantastic with sushi (sashimi less so) but not too much. Montbourgeau's basic l'Etoile is a serious winner with sushi of all types.
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never tried it, but i like the idea of jura whites of a certain bent with sushi...

anyone know any good byo sushi joints in nyc?
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
originally posted by JSchwartze:
Jurassic Chardonnay!Or chardonnay and savagnin blends that aren't too sous voiley. A little is fantastic with sushi (sashimi less so) but not too much. Montbourgeau's basic l'Etoile is a serious winner with sushi of all types.
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never tried it, but i like the idea of jura whites of a certain bent with sushi...

anyone know any good byo sushi joints in nyc?
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Poke is byo (and no corkage fee!) and very, very good. They have a quirky policy about the number of bottles they allow, based on mood it seems, but the official rule is one bottle per table. They've ignored or enforced that with no rhyme or reason depending on the time of evening and the size of the waiting list. Or not. Call ahead. A 2005 Puffeney Poulsard M was a great partner to the food there not so long ago. And the Rosenthal shop is literally around the corner.
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
originally posted by JSchwartze:
Jurassic Chardonnay!Or chardonnay and savagnin blends that aren't too sous voiley. A little is fantastic with sushi (sashimi less so) but not too much. Montbourgeau's basic l'Etoile is a serious winner with sushi of all types.
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never tried it, but i like the idea of jura whites of a certain bent with sushi...

anyone know any good byo sushi joints in nyc?
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I don't know what the policy was but I had a nice BYO dinner at Mishima recently.

There's a perfectly acceptable BYO sushi place here in Jersey City a short walk from the PATH train - Sakura on Grove St.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Chris Coad:
You eat it out exclusively?
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For the most part, sushi for me is a high end or nothing type of thing. Pristine perfect fish is such a key element to enjoying sushi that I don't find much interest in the vast mid-range options let alone the cheap stuff.

Maybe things have changed since I last looked, but most of the takeaway sushi comprimises on that pristine element which greatly reduces the interest and leaves me looking for other options.
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There are exceptions and you can go to a good fish market and DYI. But in general I agree, take-out sushi (premade in markets especially) is mostly very grim stuff.

With sushi, I like sake, nearly any austere Loire white, Kabinett Riesling, lean leafy-citrusy SB from wherever.
 
Sushi, like much of Japanese cuisine, was developed without any real thought to alcohol. Sushi, in fact, tends to be an extreme example of this phenomenon, since the dish has its roots in types of dining where alcohol consumption was not only unconsidered, but actually unlikely.
To speak of a traditional pairing of sushi with alcohol makes little sense, since there is no tradition here.

All of this manifests itself in some inconvenient ways for people trying to fine tune food and beverage pairings at a sushi restaurant.
One big obstacle is that different kinds of sushi (with different toppings) can come out in profusion, with little apparent thought to what came before or what is to come after. This makes it difficult to match a single beverage with what is on the plate, since different toppings probably go best with different drinks.
For sushi bars looking to present a wine friendly environment I think that that will change with time...
 
Per Bruce, while I almost always drink alcohol with sushi (usually a sake/beer combo...not together, but alternately), I don't think anything really enhances it. And I've tried. And tried.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Per Bruce, while I almost always drink alcohol with sushi (usually a sake/beer combo...not together, but alternately), I don't think anything really enhances it. And I've tried. And tried.
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Thor:

No wine matches that worked well, if even only fleetingly (until the next bite of sushi arrived)?

Regards,
 
No wine matches that worked well, if even only fleetingly (until the next bite of sushi arrived)?
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No.

I mean: yes, very occasionally, there was a bite of this and a taste of that wherein there was a fleeting marriage. But unless I was going to eat an entire meal of this and drink and entire bottle of that, it wasn't particularly relevant to how I eat sushi. More often, it was what Levi described as a recurring intermezzo. That's fine with me; I don't need everything to be some spectacular muscat d'Alsace/white asparagus match. Were there a very restricted wine pairing program (one-sip pours) with a progression of sushi-esque dishes, I'd be interested.

I do wonder if the same reason I don't think anything goes with oysters is why I have issues with alcohol and sushi. Is it the rawness? Oh, but I like raw meats and all manner of wines (more often heavy whites than reds, to be honest), so that's not it.
 
originally posted by Thor:

I do wonder if the same reason I don't think anything goes with oysters is why I have issues with alcohol and sushi.
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Victor Hazan said the same thing in some column or another that I recently unearthed while clearing old magazines. As always, taste varies; I love austere minerally whites or grassy Sauvignon Blanc with oysters.
 
originally posted by Thor:I don't need everything to be some spectacular muscat d'Alsace/white asparagus match.
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Well said.

I think if the sushi is good to great quality, then nothing is needed to "enhance" it, except something to wet the whistle when desired. Ginger to clean the palate if you like. Between the Japanese beers, a drier and a slightly sweeter sake, one's bases should be fairly well covered....or the chances of a "bad" match are pretty low at least. One other thing I've noticed: the "neutral" Japanese beers and most sakes seem to circumvent that whole fishy-mouth issue quite well.
 
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