Short notes from last night’s Kaiseki dinner at Tsumura.
What was for me one the most anticipated dinners this year finally took place last night at the very highly regarded Tsumura Sushi Bar and Restaurant . We were treated to a 16 course Kaiseki dinner. All the wines were BYO. We didn’t coordinate on the wines, the only instructions being to bring what you think would match with the menu. Diners were also free to try any wine with any dish and to simplify matters further, wine pouring was self-service.
Here’s the menu:
Dobin mushi – Mushroom and seafood soup
Hone senbei – Crispy fried fish bones
Sora mame – Boiled broad beans
Gyu tataki – Beef tataki
Hotaruika okizuke – Imperial firefly squid in Japanese marinade
Kaniniku kanimiso ae – Crab and miso paste salad
Sashimi – Tuna, Salmon, Sea Bream
Horenso ohitashi – Boiled spinach with Bonito shavings
Sakeharasu ichiyaboshi – Grilled salted Salmon belly
Ebi onigawara yaki – Grilled prawn “Onigawara Style”
Kaki teppan – Oyster teppanyaki
Maguro toro steak – Tuna belly steak
Tsumura salad – Salad Tsumura style
Beef usuyaki – Rolled beef stuffed with Japanese mushrooms
Sushi – Toro (tuna belly), Unagi (eel), Ikura (salmon roe)
Kani miso soup – Crab miso soup
The following tasting notes are in the order I tried the wines.
Alvarinho Dorado Vinho Verde 2004 – Slight smokiness. Starts out silky but then there’s a sudden crispness in the finish. Lemony. Very refreshing.
9th Island Tasmania Riesling 2005 – Very pale. Sweet, ripe fruit nose. Clean. Lots of fruit but very dry. Finishes long. Good but needs food.
Bott-Geyl Les Elements Gewurztraminer Alsace 2005 - Roses, lychee, smoke. Grape skin texture on the finish. Quite sweet. Soft wine and ready to drink. Very nice. Went particularly well with the squid and the eel.
Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Palmes d’Or 1992 - Medium bodied, slightly oxidative in style. Mild yeastiness. OK, if lacking a bit in flavor. Definitely fading and needs drinking up if you have it. Very good with sushi and sashimi.
Blue Mountain Reserve Pinot Noir 2004 – Cult wine from Okanagan, BC. Very pale, like a dark rose. Strawberry, sweet and spicy. Surprising body for such a light-colored wine. Very good with the beef tataki.
Lignier-Michelot Morey St. Denis Le Faconnieres 1er Cru 2003 – Berries, very ripe and sweet. Excellent. Again a good match with the beef tataki.
Voyager Estate Chenin Blanc 2004 – From Western Australia. Muted nose. Sweetish with ripe orange flavors. A bit tart on the finish.
Siduri Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir 2001 – Murky, no fruit. Flawed. Arnie’s second flawed bottle from Siduri, the first one was tried about two years ago and seemed to be suffering from secondary fermentation.
Archery Summit Red Hills Pinot Noir 2002 – Light, strawberryish. Very soft. Short finish. I didn’t really like it.
Chateau Rieussec 1999 – Since there was no dessert on the menu, I thought this would make a fitting end to the meal. Attractive light gold. Classic Sauternes nose. Quite rich with flavors of marmalade and honey. Fully integrated, well-balanced. Will age some more but drinking very well now. Outstanding. My last bottle, unfortunately.
We also had a very good Sake brought by Nico but I wasn’t able to get the name.