What Wine Goes with Sanma (Pacific Saury)? Pairing Salt-Grilled Autumn Fish

The wine to pair with sanma (Pacific saury) is, for the classic salt-grilled version, a crisp, well-chilled dry white with a mineral edge. Simple shioyaki, eaten with salt, sudachi, and grated daikon, is best met by a clean, high-acid white with no heavy oak. Drawing on years of importing Italian wine and matching it to the Tokyo table, here is the pairing that rarely misses on an autumn evening.

The myth that "wine makes oily fish taste fishy"

People often say that pairing wine with an oily blue fish like sanma turns fishy. The real culprit behind that off note is the combination of oily fish with a wine high in iron or heavy oak. Avoid that, and blue fish and wine become close friends. Steer clear of heavy reds with strong tannin and rich, heavily oaked whites. Reach instead for a clean, dry white with saline minerality and lemon-like acidity.

Pairings by preparation

The key is the gentle bitterness of the innards. That grown-up bitterness turns surprisingly harmonious when it meets a white with an almond-like, briny finish.

What the Italian coast teaches us

Vermentino is a white grape beloved along Italy's coasts. On the Tuscan shore, in the Maremma towns of Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole, the day's catch is simply grilled over charcoal and finished with a drizzle of local olive oil. No sauce, just a well-chilled local Vermentino alongside. That is the everyday way. Precisely because the cooking is unfussy, the ingredient, the sea, and the wine of the land connect directly. It is remarkably close in spirit to sanma shioyaki eaten with nothing but salt and sudachi. (Locally, the fishermen's stew called caldaro is another treasure of the table.)

How to enjoy it at the Japanese table

To pair Vermentino with salt-grilled sanma, serve it well chilled (8 to 10°C). The acidity of the cold white resets a palate weighed down by the oil and melts into the sudachi acidity as one. Its briny minerality does not clash with grated daikon or the bitterness of the innards. If there is one tip: piping-hot fish straight off the grill, with a properly chilled glass. That contrast in temperature turns an autumn night into a feast.

Federico's picks

What I often pour with salt-grilled sanma is Terenzi's Vermentino, Balbino. Born from vineyards near the Maremma sea, it is a dry white with notes of salt and citrus that fits sanma so well you would think it was made for it. On days you want a little more aromatic lift in a white, Piedmont's Langhe Arneis is another fine choice. For sweet-savory preparations like mirin-dried sanma, a light red served slightly chilled makes for an enjoyable plate too.

How to choose and serving temperature

When choosing a white for sanma, look for "unoaked, clean acidity, dry." Besides Vermentino, most whites with mineral character work well. Serve at 8 to 10°C in a slender glass. For more seafood pairings, see Wine with Seafood, and for Vermentino itself, see What is Vermentino.

FAQ

Q. Does red wine never work?
A. White is by far the best for salt-grilled sanma, but for the sweet-savory flavors of mirin-dried or kabayaki, a low-tannin red served slightly chilled pairs nicely.

Q. I am worried about the bitterness of the innards.
A. That bitterness is exactly the grown-up appeal. A dry white with an almond-like, briny finish receives it gently.

Q. What is the common mistake?
A. Pairing a heavily oaked white or a tannic, heavy red. That is what invites the fishy note. Choose a light, mineral white and you will rarely go wrong.

Q. Are sudachi and lemon fine to add?
A. More than fine, they are welcome. The citrus acidity and the wine's acidity resonate and rinse the oil clean.

An autumn plate, a glass from coastal Italy. Your usual sanma becomes just a little special.