My critique of the “drink what you like” philosophy would be: It narrows your experiences and limits the evolution of your tastes. The huge variety of wines in the world is what brings me the most joy–more so than my admitted preference (if you put a gun to my head) for the consensus world’s best wines (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, etc.). Obviously this critique itself comes down to personal preference, as I’d rather explore inferior new things than settle for superior old things.
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my guess is that for Japanese food like here, probably sake or champagne are safe routes. i know that truly successful pairings are difficult across the board, but if i were really tasked to bring a bottle without having ever been to Kojima…i’d probably opt for one of these off the top of my head from recent or semi-recent good experiences (while knowing that maybe i could do better next time, but at least i’ll have enjoyed):
sake: not all easy to get but not crazy hard to get. these shouldn’t be that expensive.
- Senkin Kakumei
- Hououbiden R&A assemblage. maybe this is my first choice; it’s just very likable and would be easy to work with. i love their black phoenix for aiyama, but aiyama is a bit more difficult with some foods.
- Hiroki junmai daiginjo. an obvious classic that does well all around
- Akabu, something seasonal. everybody likes a good Akabu. now their Kohaku is pretty good.
- Yoshidagura-u Hyakumangoku no Shiro or Ishikawamon (with ankimo, with corn, etc.)
champagne:
- Parmantier Les Oriseaux
- Olivier Horiot 5 Sens, or maybe the Solera
- Salima et Alain Cordeuil Altitude 350m. i normally like their 320m bdn but the 350m in 2018 was reallly nice.
- Jérôme Prévost Grand Cru.
- Jacques Lassaigne Clos St. Sophie or Cedric Bouchard Haute Lemble.
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Same! For sure. Learning about wine, a region or producer i don’t know much about is as interesting as whether it’s successful or not
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Seemingly he joined just to be rude to you and then left. Ridiculous.
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Another wine (besides Champagne) I like because it goes with everything is Ermes Pavese 2023 Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle.
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Years ago Ermes Pavese Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle was my white house wine. Thanks for reminding me about it. I would probably want something a little more “special” for a dinner at Kojima, but at least years ago that was a wine I use to routinely tote to weekend lunches.
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One of the few wines that can hold up to asparagus
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Just to stir the pot: My issue with sake is that the acidity is much lower than wine acidity. I find that it tends to taste flat as a result, and I find it less successful in pairings than a crisp white wine. I like sake enough, though, that I always order it with kaiseki – just for variety.
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Order yamahai, kimoto, or muroka nama genshu.
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Ooh, Crush Wine in NYC has the Prevost Grand Cru La Closerie in stock and I have never had a bottle of anything that I bought at Crush that I didn’t love.
And the Jacques Lassaigne Clos St. Sophie is a Brut Nature and I tend to love Brut Nature.
And I was really excited to see Cedric Bouchard Haute Lemble at Woodland Hills Wine because they have been bugging me to ship out some champagne that I bought on futures and which they have been holding for a while (When it finally arrived I didn’t want it to ship until it got cooler) and I thought what the hell, I’ll add the Cedric Bouchard to the stuff they want out of their warehouse except sadly that one is also on futures there. 
I already have too much champagne, but maybe I will just need to dine at Kojima more often. Today I picked up lunch at Erewhon and just a simple plate of chicken, brussels sprouts and broccoli was $21 and then I added an Ito-En bottle tea and we were at $25. It was a perfectly tasty lunch, but I was thinking that instead of wasting money on 8 of those lunches, I could be at Kojima instead. Perhaps an incentive to break the Erewhon over-priced habit.
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Crush is my personal favorite wine shop in NYC - I used to work around the block from Crush and would go weekly. They have the best selection of Riesling in the country no doubt. Stephen, the former wine director at Crush, left to create his own wine importing company, vom Boden, and because of the connection Crush gets all the best German and Austrian stuff. He also ran Rieslingfeier which used to be my favorite wine event to attend. Keller, Müller, Dönnhoff, Alzinger, Selbach would all attend and pour and I think it was only $40 a ticket.
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love that little bottle!
Prevost and Bouchard make fantastic wines - usually single vintage single vineyard stuff - all very delicious.
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AMEN to that!! And if it were in DTLA or the SGV, I would think I’d died and gone to heaven.
Those are just types of sake by brewing method or indicating unfined/undiluted and not really a user friendly way of picking sake if one is a novice.
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this thread became unhinged and wholly impertinent to Kojima, so i hesitate to contribute, but i have to ask…
are you claiming that it’s impossible to pair food with drink?
Near impossible. lol He’s said it before, kinda funny that it’s catching notice now
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Says you. I know from experience what I like.
I’ll split it.
I know from experience as well that a good number of Yamahai can have tremendous funk on the nose and will dominate over delicate foods. To each their own if that’s the preference. Some yamahai styles are as pungent as an Epoisses cheese.
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