Traditionally, local wine and local food should go together when considering food & wine pairing. Nowadays, “mix & match” is a term not only used in fashion, but also used in food and wine. Asian food could pair up with western wines and vice versa. I am fascinated with the crossover of Japanese food and French Loire wines.
Japanese food and Loire wines
Like other sushi-and-wine lovers, I started matching sushi with different wines. I found that a great variety of wines produced in Loire Valley are excellent options other than sake (Japanese rice wine). The non-oaked Loire whites are young, fruity, crispy with a good level of acidity. The citrus acid in both sushi-su (すし酢) and white wine brings up the freshness and umami of raw fishes. The salty soy sauce (醤油) adds a balance to the acidity of both sushi-su and crispy white wines. Further, mirin, 味醂 a type of sweet Japanese wine which mixes with salt and sugar in the sushi-su, adds a depth of taste inside the mouth.
Sometimes, people said that “wasabi is a wine killer”. In fact, the real wasabi root, which requires pure and constantly flowing water without pesticides, are difficult to grow. The annual production could not even meet the domestic consumption within Japan. Instead, convenient wasabi-powders or wasabi-paste tubes are widely used as substitutions in Japanese restaurants across the world. As a result, the spicy flavour of wasabi has been artificially modified. The acidity of wines or the bubbles in the sparkling wines reduce the heat from the wasabi-paste. The freshness of raw fishes could then be maintained.
For example, Muscadet on the Atlantic coast and Sparkling Vouray and Montlouis in Touraine go perfectly with raw white fishes, raw oysters and shell fishes. Not only the Loire whites work. The light-bodied reds from Anjou-Saumur and Touraine also harmonize with fatty raw fish like toro (tuna belly) and kan-buri (寒鰤 over 80cm Japanese winter yellowtail).
Young fruity red in Saumur-Champigny or dry white Chenin Blanc based Vouray match well with grilled fishes, like sanma-bataa-yaki (秋刀魚バター焼き grilled Pacific saury with butter sauce). Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume go well with chicken teriyaki. The bubbles from the Saumur Brut cleanse the fat from tempura on the palate.
Price
Price is a very important matter when I started experimenting on food and wine pairing. I will cry if I picked an expensive wine with wrong food. Loire wines could be drunk young, and do not need to be stored in cellar for decades. Therefore, the ready-to-drink Loire wines are a lot cheaper than Bordeaux or Burgundy wines. Sometimes, Loire wines are selling cheaper than New World wines. By paying the same or lesser amount, why don’t choose a high quality Old World wine?
On special occasions like Anniversary, Birthday, and Valentine’s Day, people like drinking Champagne. However, real Champagnes produced inside the appellation of Champagne are considerably expensive. Another good choice will be Cremant, a sparkling wine produced using the same traditional method of Champagne. Cremant-de-Loire is the second largest sparkling wine productions in France following Champagne. The price of a bottle of Cremant-de-Loire is reasonable, far lesser than a real Champagne.
Easy Drinking & Ready to drink
To my experience, Loire wines are easy drinking and food friendly. Some Loire whites like Muscadet could be drunk alone as an aperitif. As mentioned above, Loire wines could be drunk young without aging for a long period of time. That means I do not need to worry what kind of food to match with and how long to store in the cellar before drinking. To me, Loire wines are considered to be “worry-free” wines.
Garden of France
Let’s enjoy the sparkles created by sushi and wine in the “Garden of France”-- the Loire Valley. Bon appétit! いただきます!
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