Côtes du Rhône and Sushi at Godai Sushi Bar

Dale Blakenship of Ambienté distributors in San Antonio invited me to taste through a small group of Côtes du Rhône wines. He directed me to a sushi bar on West Avenue, Godai Sushi. “Sushi with Rhône?” I thought, but I played along, it could be very interesting.

I pulled into a full parking lot that was only half paved. It seems that this Sushi bar has more customers than parking; so many people use the empty lot next to the building for parking. Godai Sushi bar sits off of West Avenue, next to a couple of maple trees, not yet tall enough to shade the entire structure, but large enough to provide so welcome shade in the heat of a San Antonio summer. The building isn’t elaborate; in fact, it’s quite simple in design. Did this little place really have a great wine list? Does my friend really place a lot of wines at this little establishment? The answer was a resounding, "Yes."

The dining area is small, uncomplicated, bright and clean. It has a lovely bar where loads of fresh sushi is displayed. The dining areas are not extravagant by any means, but practical and comfortable. Off to the left there sits a Euro Cave and I wondered what might be hiding inside. As I approached the table, I was introduced to Chef Goro, a man of petite stature, wearing a baseball cap and polo shirt, both white and sporting the “Godia Sushi Bar” logo. Chef Goro, William Pitchford as he is otherwise known, head chef and owner of Godai Sushi Bar was already into the third wine of the day. He was extolling the flavors of Clos de Sixte from Domaine Grand Veneur, Lirac 2010. I sat down, and joined them.

Within minutes we were well into the “wine geek” conversation. Chef Goro related the story of what he told his wife when she inquired as to “why wine”. She was trying to understand his passion for his beverage of choice. To Chef Goro, as wine is to many of us, wine isn’t just a beverage. Wine is the place it is grown; it is the soils, the air, and the zeal with which the winemaker crafts he final product. “It’s not the grapes, it’s everything else that goes into it.” explained Goro.

Chef Goro has a soft side. I could see it in his eyes as we talked of food and how he takes extra care to make sure a lobster has been placed in a cold-water bath to numb it prior to his preparing it. He doesn’t want the sea creature to feel the pain of death. He is an endearing man who prepares the most flavorful sushi. His passion for combining the flavors of his foods and wine is evident.

We tasted through five wines brought by Dale. As we did we made notice that the Tempura Calamari with sweet red peppers was complimented quite well with the Reserve des Capucins 2011. The soft red currant undertones and solid mid-pallet of raspberries really brought out the red pepper spice in his Tempura. The most unexpected pairing was a seared peppered tuna appetizer with the Andrieux and Fills Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2011. The creamy sauce drizzled on top of the tuna coupled with the peppered crust was exquisite when followed with the soft, subtle structure and dark plum and soft peppery flavors of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This big-bodied red wine was the perfect compliment to this almost uncooked tuna dish.

During the course of the afternoon, I sampled and took notes on six wines from the Côtes du Rhône. For full tasting notes, please check out my wine ratings page.

Cheers!!

#sushi #cotesdurhone #redwine #syrah