Food and wine pairing No.1 料理とワイン その1

It is difficult to come up with the best combination of food and wine due to the diversity of personal preferences. There is no strict rule for food and wine paring.

However, there is a general guideline: match the intensity of foods with the weight of the wine. The weight of wine is indicated by the level of alcohol content.

For example, matching the high intensity of food such as grilled beef steaks with full bodied wine such as full bodied Shiraz is a good combination.
   
What wine do you think match raw fish such as sushi well?  The picture below is a sushi at Sushi-Tetsu, in Shiogama, Miyagi prefecture in Japan. The chef is considered to be one of the best chefs of tuna sushi in Japan. I had the sushi in Oct 2013 and it was really tasty, although I matched the sushi with a local Sake, "Uragasumi."

The flavour intensity of raw fish is weak and delicate; thus, one suggestion is light-bodied dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Koshu (Japanese local grape variety).

Other consideration for the raw fish is the oily texture of the raw fish matches the high acid characteristic of those white wines.  


料理とワインの組み合わせは個人の好みの問題もあり、ベストの組み合わせを提案するのは難しいのですが、一般的なガイドラインがあります。それは食べ物の味の強さとワインのボディの強さ（一般的にはアルコール度数）を合わせるという方法です。例えば、味が強いグリルしたビーフには、フルボディのシラーズは良い組み合わせでしょう。では、寿司に合うワインは何でしょう？ 軽めの白ワイン、ドライ・リースリングやソービニョンブランなどは、繊細な寿司の味わいによくマッチするでしょう。また、生魚のオイリーな舌触りが白ワインのすっきりした酸味によりうまくバランスが取れ、心地良く感じられると思います。ちなみに写真は塩釜のすし哲のお寿司。その時は浦霞と合わせました。