Food and wine pairings sometimes offer the most astonishing surprises.  On a brief trip to London this week, Giovanna, from our Friuli producer La Tunella,  joined us on Monday  at Tsuru Bankside one of  our  on-trade customers,  a new, modern and authentic Japanese restaurant  tucked  behind  Tate Modern  on the Southbank. With a welcome cooling breeze blowing our al fresco table and  Wimbledon on a giant screen  in the background, a  quintessential English scene, which was soon transformed when the Italian wines and Japanese food were served.

A wine tasting with Japanese food was the perfect way to start this summer evening. La Tunella whites (Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc) are the perfect palate-freshener in this heat with their crisp acidity and delicate aromatic flavours. The reds (Pinot Nero and Cabernet Franc) were not bad either, especially as we were tasting them slightly chilled – two grapes that can really shine at ‘cellar’ temperature.

We expected sushi to be the ideal accompaniment to the white wines, and it could have worked flawlessly had it not been for the ever-present and overpowering condiments wasabi and soy sauce, fiery and salty in turn. And actually we discovered that Cabernet Franc was the best match with wasabi! The most successful sushi and wine pairings were: Seabass with Sauvignon Blanc; Mackerel with Pinot Grigio, Salmon with Friulano and Tuna with Pinot Nero.

Next came the hot dishes: the delicious home-made chicken katsu curry was amazingly good with the Pinot Grigio and the Friulano. The freshness and the aromatics balanced the spices and carrot/apple sweetness of the sauce. If you prefer red, then go for the Pinot Nero. Pinot Nero again was our pick for the salmon teriyaki, with its  darker and richer sauce.

Cabernet Franc was the  maverick of this food and wine tasting but Denise (the Wine Sleuth and new fan of the Friulano grape) was praising it as the perfect partner for a chocolate brownie…What about chocolate and wine for our next food and wine matching exercise?