Wine and Sushi at Tsuru

Nestled behind the Tate Modern on South Bank is Tsuru, a Japanese restaurant where last week the first of a series of wine and sushi tasting evenings took place. Sushi has a reputation amongst learned wine folk of being notoriously difficult to match; its subtle flavour can be easily overpowered by brawny, bully wines yet judging by the party that took place in my mouth last Tuesday, Tsuru has pulled it off… with a little help.

The help came in the form of the suited and booted, Damian Tillson, deputy director of wine at Sotheby’s who has joined forces with the Tsuru team. After having spent many nights refining, from a short list of hundreds, six wines to present to us today, he introduced and commented on the chosen ones like a rhapsodising beat poet, celebrating a glass of Bordeaux with the same inventive lyricism of Walt Whitman celebrating himself.

So it was with the humility of the uninitiated that I sipped my first white wine, a 2007 Domain de Ricaud, Entre-deux-Mer, Bordeaux.  We had been given a sheet of paper complete with separate boxes to record our recollections of each wine. ‘Nice’ I put in the corresponding box. The single word stared up at me inadequately, tumbleweeds blowing in the empty space around it. I took another sip and inspiration came. ‘Light and refreshing, like a kiss on the lips blown away by the wind.’

The next white was a 2007 Domaine Bailly-Reverdy, Sancerre. The taste was still light but had an earthiness that took me back, funnily enough, to 2007 when I spent a summery week in Sancerre and took in the sloping hills and agricultural theme of this famous wine region.

The final white, a 2006 Domaine Leflaive, Macon Verze, Burgundy (biodynamic), continued the theme of increased richness, and the fruity, oaky flavour remained on the palette for longer. At this point various nigiri and maki began to appear in front of us; bite-size delicacies which perfectly complemented the brief staying power of the Burgundy.

It was time for one rosé and two reds however at this point, a slight ambivalence to red wines combined with the unfortunate fact of having burned the roof of my mouth on pie the preceding day kicked in, reducing my powers of observation. I can say that of the 2007 Cotes de Provence (rosé), the 2007 Cotes de Brouilly, Beaujolais and the 2005 La Tunella, Colli Orentali del Friuli, Cabernet Franc, the latter created the biggest storm due to its richness, in contrast to the restraint of what had gone before, and is well suited to the meaty teriyaki.

Wine enthusiasts will not need encouragement to attend future events at Tsuru but to those who hesitate and teeter on the brink of liking wine beyond a means to an end, I urge you to fall into the practice of pontificating and poetry for, tongue in or out of cheek as you please, it is a joy, an art and it gets you tipsy.

Tsuru
4 Canvey Street
South Bank
SE1 9AN

Tel: 020 7928 2228

www.tsuru-sushi.co.uk