About two weeks back, I had the pleasure of attending the Kaiseki dinner of the Chaine des Rotisseurs at Toki, a relatively new restaurant run by the very talented and multi-awarded Chef Shinsuke Yonekawa. I was so impressed by the dinner that I asked for the same dinner to be served again for some relatives of mine who had heard all about it and wanted to experience it for themselves. I was tasked with choosing the wines to go with dinner. I decided to start with Champagne, proceed to Alsatian Pinot Gris, then a Burgundy for the beef, and end with a Tokaji.
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth Salmon Rose 1998 - I love Champagne and think it's a great match with Japanese food, especially sushi and sashimi, so I decided to start with this. This may have the lightest stain of pink I've seen in Champagne. Tart green apple flavor. Very fresh and a little spicy. Youthful and just starting to pick up some coffee notes but no yeastiness or bready flavors. Tons of fruit and great length. This wine is still a baby with many years ahead of it. Excellent now but with potential to be outstanding with time. Performed admirably with the sashimi.
Bott-Geyl Les Elements Pinot Gris 2006 - Very light pink. Light and a little oily. Obvious sweetness showing candied orange flavors. Straightforward wine with some easy charm. Very good wine for current drinking. The sweetness of this wine mirrored the sweet crab flesh in the kani chawan mushi perfectly.
Louis Jadot Corton Pougets Grand Cru 1999 - Smooth and meaty. Quite sweet, ripe fruit. A bit of blueberry jam. Plum. Elegant and well-rounded. Although this medium to light-bodied wine is very easy to drink, it has very good depth of flavor. Probably just approaching peak now but can probably add another dimension of complexity with a bit more age. Excellent and a great match for the wagyu steak.
Kiralyudvar Cuvee Ilona Tokaji 2000 - We just had a bit of fresh fruit for dessert but I couldn't resist having this wine as well as I have been very curious to try it. Beautiful shining red-copper color. Intensely sweet but with a great deal of acidity to cut the sweetness. The flavor seems more ripe fruit rather than botrytis and thus seems fresher than other Tokaji. Come to think of it, I don't think this has a puttonyos designation so it must be some new kind of Tokaji. Marmalade, butterscotch and caramel. A little goes a long, long way but it's rather hard not to keep drinking it. Excellent wine that will undoubtedly age very well with all that sugar and acidity.