Enjoying Autumn Salmon with Various Wines Vol. 2—Heavier Red Wine × Autumn Salmon—

Hello, everyone.
I am Miyuki Isobe.

When thinking about salmon, people often tend to think, "It's a fish dish, so maybe white wine?" or "Maybe a rosé wine to match the pink color of salmon?"
However, salmon is a convenient fish that is relatively affordable, easily available at supermarkets anytime, and can be cooked in many different ways, so it is worth pairing with various other types of wine as well.
That is why we are presenting this series on the theme of "Enjoying Autumn Salmon with Various Wines."
In Part 2 this time, we are taking on the challenge of pairing autumn salmon with a heavier red wine—the kind usually reserved for meat dishes.

Salmon caught during this season (around September to November) is especially plump and delicious, but it contains relatively little fat.
Furthermore, salmon is actually classified as a white-fleshed fish.
Therefore, with simple dishes where you taste the autumn salmon straightforwardly, such as plain grilled fish, there is a concern that it might be overpowered by a heavy, full-bodied red wine with plenty of volume.
So, the key tweak I focused on was:adding fat and umami.

I made "Autumn Salmon Wrapped in Pastry," a dish where autumn salmon, spinach, and cream sauce are wrapped in puff pastry and baked in the oven.

Phrases like "wrapped in pastry" and "cream sauce" might sound troublesome when you want to cook something quickly, but using a frozen puff pastry sheet makes it easy, and you don't even have to make white sauce from scratch.
In fact,simply grating a hard cheese and letting it soak in heavy cream creates a delicious cheese cream.
How simple is that!

Serves 2

Autumn salmon fillets: 2
Salt and pepper: to taste
Spinach: about 3 bunches
Frozen puff pastry sheet: 1 sheet
Grana Padano (or any hard cheese of your choice): 2 tbsp, grated
Heavy cream (36% fat recommended): about 50 ml
Egg yolk: as needed (for brushing on pastry)

1. Take the frozen puff pastry sheet out of the freezer, and once it softens enough to handle, roll it out lightly with a rolling pin and shape it into your preferred size for wrapping the salmon.
2. Remove large bones from the autumn salmon fillets, season with salt and pepper, and cut them in half.
3. Mix the grated cheese and heavy cream in a bowl. After a short while, it will turn into a creamy mixture.
4. Boil the spinach and let it cool (a quick blanch to remove bitterness is sufficient, as it will go into the oven later).
5. Place the autumn salmon, spinach, and cream sauce from step 3 onto the pastry sheet, and wrap them up.
6. Cut slashes on top and brush with egg yolk.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 20 to 30 minutes.
(Adjust baking time depending on the browning.)

Using long-aged hard cheese packed with amino acids enhances the overall umami when combined with the autumn salmon, creating a wonderful pairing that holds its own against the volume of a full-bodied red wine.

Incidentally, the longer the aging period, the stronger the cheese's umami generally becomes.
For example, production standards strictly dictate aging periods: Grana Padano requires at least 9 months or more, Parmigiano Reggiano 12 months or more, and Comté 120 days or more.
So, choosing the cheese used in your sauce to match the body of the wine might be a great approach.

Additionally, wrapping the fish in buttery puff pastry supplements the lean autumn salmon with fat, creating richness that balances beautifully with a deep, full-bodied red wine.
With a hearty dish and a sturdy red wine, this is a remarkably satisfying pairing.
It is ideal not only for a dinner when opening a special red wine, but also for hosting friends for lunch.
If you prepare everything up to the baking step in advance and let the oven do the work, you can toast with sparkling wine alongside your guests and serve the hot, freshly baked pastry right at the perfect moment.

By the way, the simplest and most common salmon dish on Japanese dining tables is probably salt-grilled salmon (*shioyaki*).
Since grilled fish is such a quintessential Japanese dish, people often say it is hard to imagine pairing it with wine.
It is true that it is often served on traditional Japanese tableware, and when enjoying the straightforward flavor of the fish itself, matching it with complex aromas or tannins can be tricky.

However, that is precisely when Japanese wine comes in!
A Koshu with refreshing citrus notes acts just like a squeeze of *sudachi* over grilled fish, offering a light and breezy pairing. Meanwhile, a fresh rosé complements the delicate salmon pink color of autumn salmon, making the table visually stunning.
We encourage you to casually reach for Japanese wine, especially during a Japanese-style dinner.

Here are the wines paired this time🍷
※ You can try this in a 100 ml Mini Vin (a single glass portion).

Japanese wine: Iwanohara Vineyard (Niigata Prefecture) / Heritage (Red)

Varieties: Muscat Bailey A, Black Queen
This wine won the Silver Award at the Japan Wine Competition 2019 and the Gold Award at the "SAKURA" Japan Women's Wine Awards 2019.
Both are grape varieties created by founder Zenbei Kawakami, who is known as the father of Japanese wine.
Carefully harvested, sorted, vinified, and aged, this wine retains the distinct characteristics of the grape varieties while combining a natural strength, delivering a deep sense of concentration and complexity.
It is truly a wine that expresses the terroir of Iwanohara Vineyard.

Japanese wine Domaine Kosei (Nagano) / Merlot Rosé Unfiltered Extra Dry (Rosé)

Variety: Merlot. After fermentation in stainless steel tanks, it was aged in new oak barrels for about one month.
To bring out its flavor to the fullest, it is crafted without fining, cold stabilization, filtration, or heat treatment.
Please enjoy this fresh rosé made from Merlot.