Sake and sushi can be an amazing combination.
But what if you prefer wine? It turns out that there are some epic wine and sushi combos too.
I’ve been selling wine and sushi for over a decade as a server, bartender, and sommelier. And as a beverage director at one of the country’s best sushi restaurants, I’ve tasted a huge variety of wines with sushi.
This post covers my favorite wine and sushi combos, plus classic pairings that you must try.
If you’ve ever wondered what wine goes best with sushi, you’ve come to the right place.
How to Choose the Best Wine With Sushi
Choosing the perfect wine to pair with sushi can seem daunting.
But luckily, there are a ton of grape varieties and wine regions that will taste great with sushi and sashimi. So many that the best place to start is by recommending wines to avoid with sushi.
Tannins and heavy oak can clash with raw fish and vegetables. Powerful and rich red wines, in particular, can overpower sushi, and make clean-flavored fish taste fishy. For these reasons, I generally avoid cabernet sauvignon and nebbiolo unless they have a significant amount of age.
In general, most whites, roses, and sparkling wines pair well with sushi and sashimi. A lot of softer, lighter reds can also be pretty good.
There are many types of sushi and sashimi, of course. Delicate-flavored slices of hirame sashimi and 20 ingredient rolls covered in spicy mayo and eel sauce are entirely different. So I will make both broad and specific pairing recommendations throughout this post.
Best White Wine With Sushi
There are some white wine and sushi pairings that can compete with sake, especially when spice is involved. Below are some of my favorites.
Albariño With Shiromi and Shellfish
Albariño is a slam dunk at the sushi bar. A glass or bottle of Rías Baixas and Vinho Verde can get you through an entire sushi or sashimi omakase. And if you like Western-style sushi rolls, Albariño can handle that too.
Nigiri, sashimi, and simple maki sushi are where this wine really shines. Raw or lightly cooked shellfish like uni, ebi, and amaebi are amazing with Albariño. I also love it with white fish (shiromi) and fatty fish like hamachi and maguro.
Sauvignon Blanc and Mackerel
This is one of my all-time favorite wine and sushi pairings. Saba and sauvignon blanc are a perfect match. Shime saba nigiri and sashimi, raw sawara, and grilled mackerel all work.
Just avoid oaked sauvignon blanc.
Regions like Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, and New Zealand produce some of the best examples of this grape.
Sauvignon blanc is also pretty good with most cuts of nigiri and sashimi. Rolls with shiso or citrus elements also will make a great pairing. Gari saba and ume shiso are two classic rolls that you must try with unoaked sauvignon blanc!
Gruner Goes With It
Grüner veltliner is an Austrian grape that is dry, minerally, and complex. This wine goes with just about everything at the sushi bar. I love it with all kinds of sushi and sashimi.
Wines from Wachau, Kremstal, and Kamptal tend to be full-bodied and spicy. They’re magic with pickled ginger (gari). These bold gruners can also handle more elaborate sushi rolls and fatty/oily items like otoro, toro, saba, and aji.
Txakoli and Shellfish
Txakoli, or txakolina, is a light, effervescent wine from the Basque region of Spain. The white versions of this wine are fantastic with shellfish and fish. Few wines are as refreshing and light.
Txakoli is wonderful with uni and crab. It’s also amazing with shrimp tempura rolls.
Muscadet and Raw Seafood
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine is a coastal wine region in the Loire Valley of France. The wines are made with the Melon de Bourgogne grape and are light, mineral, and briny. These flavors work well with raw cuts of nigiri and sashimi. I especially like it with white fish (shiromi), ikura, and uni.
Muscadet also pairs nicely with light-flavored cheeses. It’s the perfect pairing for a Philadelphia roll.
Dry and Semi-Sweet Riesling
Riesling is a grape that’s often misunderstood and deserves more respect. And it’s certainly one of the best wines with sushi and sashimi.
Dry riesling is excellent with raw nigiri, sashimi, and simple rolls. Rieslings from Austria and Australia are often very dry and incredibly complex. Rheingau riesling is also usually dry. And you can pair this wine with everything at the sushi bar.
Slightly sweet rieslings are delicious with spicy sushi. If you like rolls with some heat, pair them with riesling. German Kabinett and wines from Finger Lakes and Washington are often slightly sweet.
Vouvray, Wasabi, and Ginger
Vouvray is another wine region in the Loire Valley, and they produce dry and sweet wines from chenin blanc. Many of the wines from this region exhibit aromas and flavors of ginger, honey, and citrus. It also loves wasabi.
These characteristics mean Vouvray is one of the best wines with sushi. It’s especially good with nigiri, and be sure to try it with rich and oily fish like toro, saba, and aji.
Vouvray is also a stunning match with spicy sushi rolls.
Pinot Gris and Gari
Pinot gris has a rounded texture, lots of fruit, and a hint of bitterness. Like chenin blanc from Vouvray, this grape tends to match pickled ginger and wasabi beautifully. This means that pinot gris pairs with many kinds of nigiri, sashimi, and maki.
Pair pinot gris with saba, aji, and spicy sushi rolls with confidence.
You may have enjoyed pinot gris and not even realized it. Pinot grigio is the Italian name for this French grape. Pinot grigio is almost always made in a lighter, fresher style. It’s not as complex as pinot gris, but it pairs well with light cuts of raw fish sushi and simple maki rolls.
Pairing Sushi & Rose
Rose is a favorite of the patio crowd but is often shunned by more serious wine enthusiasts.
But roses are starting to be taken more seriously. And they can be pretty good with sushi.
Provence Rose
This Mediterranean region is the home of rose. And these wines are made to go well with seafood.
I love roses with tuna, octopus, and crab. Seared nigiri and sushi rolls are also a nice pairing.
Pinot Noir Rose
Rose made with pinot noir tends to be juicy and fresh. They’re my favorite rose with sushi because they’re generally round, complex, and fruity.
Salmon sushi and sashimi are delicious with pinot noir rose. And it can handle other preparations of salmon like salt-grilled or broiled. Sushi rolls with fruit elements are another tasty pairing.
Best Red Wine for Sushi
Red wine and sushi don’t have to be a faux pas. Lighter, less tannic reds are made around the world. And this style can match many types of sushi.
Gamay and Sushi
Gamay tends to be juicy, mild, and light in tannins. The most famous region for making gamay is Beaujolais. These wines range from simple and fruity (Beaujolais Nouveau) to more serious and complex (Beaujolais Cru).
If you want red wine and sushi, this is my number one recommendation. Pair gamay with toro, unagi, and black cod. It also pairs beautifully with other dishes you may find in Japanese restaurants like nitsuke and aradaki.
Pinot Noir at the Sushi Bar
Pinot noir is a fuller-bodied cousin of gamay. They both share a fruity nature. And pinot is about as elegant as it gets. I also like to pair pinot with toro, unagi, and black cod. It’s also solid with salmon sushi and sashimi.
Burgundy, France, and the Willamette Valley in Oregon tend to make the most food-friendly pinot noirs. I generally look for wines that are under 14% ABV.
Barbera: Italy’s Answer to Pinot
Barbera d’Asti and Barbera d’Alba share many of the characteristics of fine red Burgundy. And they’re also generally much more affordable.
These herbal, fruity reds are awesome with cooked fish and shellfish. I also really like barbera with salmon, tuna, and hamachi.
Elegant, Aged Rioja
Rioja, Spain makes tempranillo-based wines that are often stunning in complexity and great values. And many of them are aged for years before they’re released.
Lopez de Heredia is one of my favorite wineries. I generally pair their wines with sauteed or grilled items in Japanese restaurants. Miso or sake kasu-marinated Black cod especially. But salmon, toro, unagi, and anago are decent matches too.
Juicy Malbec and Barbecued Eel
Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina can be juice bombs. They’re often semi-sweet and silky with only moderate tannins.
Malbecs can actually be pretty good with broiled unagi sushi and cooked black cod. Dragon rolls and rich, spicy sushi rolls can work too.
Can you find white wines that pair better with sushi? Absolutely. But if you’re a fan of rich red wines, malbec can be a decent sushi pairing.
Best Sparkling Wine With Sushi
If you’re wondering what wine goes best with sushi, sparkling is tough to beat. Bubbles, acidity, and a lack of tannins are a winning combination at the sushi bar.
Sushi Champagne Pairing
Champagne is the most famous and prestigious type of sparkling wine. If you’re looking to celebrate, Champagne is hard to beat.
Of the sparklers on this list, Champagne tends to be the most expensive, full-bodied, and oaky.
Caviar, ikura, tobiko, and masago are classic pairings with Champagne. And really any raw sushi or sashimi will pair beautifully. No wine is better suited for an omakase.
Tempura, while not sushi, is also an excellent wine and sushi pairing.
Cava: Poor Man’s Champagne
Cava is Spain’s answer to Champagne. It’s generally aged for a shorter amount of time and is much more affordably priced.
Anything that you’d pair with Champagne, you can pair with Cava: roe, nigiri, sashimi, and tempura.
Prosecco and Rolls
Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine that’s often light, fruity, and playful. These affordable sparklers are pretty good with a variety of raw fish and shellfish.
But I really like to match Prosecco with Western-style sushi rolls. Anything with spice or lots of ingredients and/or sauce is a good match with Prosecco.
Moscato and Spice
Moscato d’Asti is a super-light and semi-sweet sparkling wine from Italy. They have a very light fizzy quality and a soft texture. This wine is an excellent pairing with spicy sushi rolls.
Pairing Fortified Wine With Sushi
Fortified wine is often viewed as an after-dinner specialty style. But they can also be a perfect pairing with certain types of sushi.
Dry Sherry and Sushi
Sherry is a fortified wine from Spain with a crazy affinity for seafood.
Dry Sherry styles like Fino and Amontillado are my number one pairing with oysters. And they’re also one of the best wines with sushi and sashimi, period.
Tawny Port and Unagi
I don’t eat a lot of freshwater eel, as the fisheries for it are not sustainable. But I do love its flavor.
Often, I treat unagi nigiri like dessert. And it’s a beautiful match with tawny Port.