Wine with Sushi
Wine with sushi is a great combination. A light white wine will enhance the delicate flavours of the dish. Sushi is one of the most popular dishes in the world and a perfectly matched wine will will make this Japanese dish taste even better. In this guide you will learn what to pair with sushi.
Last updated January 27th 2023
Wine with sushi is a match made in heaven. Sushi has become increasingly popular and is now available in almost every country in the world. Japanese cuisine is diverse and it can be difficult to know what to drink with Japanese food. Drinks at Japanese restaurants usually include sake and Japanese beer, but wine is often an even better pairing with sushi. There are many different types of sushi. It can be a salmon roll, a tuna nigiri or many other variations - sushi almost always contains raw fish. This ingredient needs to be carefully taken into consideration when paired with wine. A bold wine with high tannins will overwhelm the fish's delicate flavours. Here you will find out what to drink with sushi rolls and nigiri.
Dry and light-bodied White wines
Overall it is almost always a safe choice to select a dry and light-bodied wine with high acidity for your sushi. Ideally, choose a crisp white wine with mineral flavours to balance the fat and the salt from the fish. Pinot Grigio with sushi is a great match, but an unoaked Chardonnay with sushi will not make you disappointed. A wine with high acidity also pairs well with tempura sushi because the acidity in the wine will cut the fat from the tempura. Some great white wines for sushi are:
- Chablis from France or another unoaked Chardonnay
- Pinot Grigio from Italy
- Alvarinho or Vinho Verde from Portugal
- A very dry Riesling
- Assyrtiko from Greece
Other wines good for Sushi
If you don't feel like a white dry wine, there are some other good alternatives. It is important to choose a wine with low or no tannins not to overwhelm the flavours from the food. Sparkling wine with sushi is always a good idea. Prosecco with sushi is a very popular paring. Good wines for sushi include:
- A dry and zesty sparkling wine, such as dry Prosecco, Champagne or Cava
- Provence Rosé or other light rosé wines
- Beaujolais Nouveau - only if you really want to drink red wine, a white wine or sparkling will most likely be a better choice.
