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GASTRONOMY & SOMMELLERIE

The majority of wine offered in restaurants
are still mainly French wines as the Japanese
wine market has been developing by famous
French wine like Burgundy, Bordeaux, and
Champagne.
But I suppose that the younger generation is
paying attention to the diversity of wines from
the New World today, so we have seen more
opportunity for sommeliers serving different
types of wine from orange wine through to
sweet ones.

The Thousand Hotel Kyoto

shows a much purer flavour of each ingredi-
ent, so wines that also have pure terroir expres-
sion go better with our cuisines.

How do you see the future of sommelier
profession? In Europe are the people prefer
“social distance”. The one-portion ready-
-made servings are demanded. The restau-
rants and wineries are offering complete
on-line description of any produced wine,
some of them with “live” videos. Do you
What is the typical pairing of wines and expect the old order to come back and the
food? Japanese cuisine is far different com- sommelier will serve the guests in Japanese
pared to French or Italian ones, where wine restaurants again?
is served daily on the table. Do you offer Well, this is very controversial issue among
wine with sushi, seafood, fish, or grilled not only sommeliers, but also in the wine in-
meat (as the famous wagyu/Kobe beef)? dustry as a whole.
How is the food prepared? I think that sommeliers need to be flexible.
We often pair wine with authentic Japanese If the situation is changed, we also need to
food. Of course, Sushi, Tempura, and other po- change how we serve and perform.
pular Japanese cuisines can be served with a RTD (ready to drink) is now common in the
diverse range of wines. Japanese market as well, and this is actually
Some people may say that Japanese food a nice opportunity to let consumers know
is more delicate and subtle compared to Eu- how nice, canned wines are. They are genui-
ropean style, yet our cuisine has deep UMAMI nely nice and fresh, and casual which attracts
(pleasant savoury taste) flavour, which can Millennials, for example.
contribute to make pairing more versatile. But “there is no unstoppable rain”. Someday
The other day, we paired Traditional Californi- in the future, the situation will be coming back
an Cabernet Sauvignon with Wagyu Tempura to normal, and we will serve and comfort the
served with dashi dipping sauce, which crea- guests in the restaurants by serving nice food
ted lovely harmony together. and wine as usual, which I really like while wor-
I personally believe that Japanese food king as a sommelier. ƅ
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