The absolutely perfect food and wine match is a rarity that needs to be celebrated. There is so much satisfaction to be gained from a good mouthful of sushi or sashimi that stimulates the brain with succulent fish and is enhanced by the many layers of flavour in Champagne. It really makes you want to take your time to enjoy the indulgence.

Champagne is clearly one of the most prestigious wines in the world. Rarely a celebration goes by of any sort from birthdays to Bar Mitzvahs without the unmistakable sound of the popping of a cork. Inevitably it will be a French cock from the Champagne region. So dominant is the presence of Champagne that not even the best New World wines get a look in.

It is debatable if the image is shaped by the taste or by the plentiful and visually stimulating marketing surrounding ‘Brand Champagne’.

The flavour of Champagne comes from the three main grape varieties used and the creativity of the individual Champagne houses. Different houses create differently flavoured blends from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes and the type of grape used is generally dictated by how close the vineyard is to the available grapes. The geography of the Champagne region dictates what grapes are grown where.

Pinot Noir vineyard stretches around the town of Reims in Montagne de Reims, the grape’s favourite Chalk and Limestone soil are plentiful here. The sun rises above Chardonnay in the East-facing C?tes de Blanc (‘White Slope’),it is the smallest of the vineyard areas. Pinot Meunier on the other hand prefers the frost-prone Vallée de la Marne (Marne Valley) which is not friendly to other grapes. This grape buds just after the crucial spring frost season.

So Champagne is far from homogenous in flavour and the different houses have their unmistakeable flavour profiles but the drink still follows or creates trends, like any other drink.

Despite bubbly’s well-known role as a celebratory drink, even the Champagnois realise that it would be impossible to expand sales further if the drink remained only the iconic bottle for Formula 1 podiums or 21st birthdays.  The logical extension has been to promote Champagne and food pairing.

Matching the two has been an enjoyable occupation going back to the beginnings of Champagne itself. After all what could be more enjoyable than matching wine of this quality with the outstanding produce and cookery of France? Now the craftsmen are taking the idea further and not confining the drinking of their labour of love to fine European restaurants but are taking it into Asian restaurants ?– in Asia and Europe.

As there are many styles of Champagne and an almost endless array of Asian dishes, the pairing of these great flavours is more logical than it seems. When it comes to the sushi and sashimi that are some of the high points of Japanese cuisine the two elements are really not as far apart as you might imagine. After all Champagne grapes may be grown in chalk but the Japanese don’t traditionally eat cheese.

Sushi and sashimi have an accent on freshness, delicacy and purity of flavour that has a wonderful interaction with the subtle and complex nature of Champagne. The French wine Chablis, an usually Unoaked Chardonnay from Burgundy is the preferred match by far in Japan. That’s because the wine is not so far away on closer examination from Japanese Sake. Both drinks are light with a light crispness, pure and fresh and serve the same purpose – they do not alter, enhance or conflict with the texture of the food.

Champagne on the other hand adds a new variation as the gas and its ability to cling on to foods and change their texture. A poor quality sparkling wine has bubbles that are as abrasive as those in 7Up or lemonade, coarse bubbles that scratch the palate. Champagne though offers the diner a caressing texture.

After much tasting in some of the world’s finest Japanese sushi houses in the world, I have some specific recommendations. However, I would urge you to experiment so that you have a number of different experiences with the varying styles and tastes of Champagne and see its versatility as a partner to many types of Japanese fish dishes.

As a general rule, the refreshing crispness of Champagne is a catalyst in exaggerating the fresh succulence of those morsels of sea creature. Millions of bubbles eagerly attach themselves to small grains of sushi rice to create a fairy floss like texture. The yeasty richness of aged Champagne is also a natural friend to the iodine tang of the sea.

The following pairings are based on some of the finest Champagne in the world and can be taken as a guide that takes into account the house style of the Champagne concerned.

La Grande Dame is an exquisite, delicate wine perfect with a mouthful of delicate white fish such as sole or turbot sashimi.

Krug Clos du Mensil is a tight and nervy wine and it screams out for the iodine of the spiky sea urchin or Uni.

Dom Perignon is ultra complex and silky smooth as a baby’s bottom. It acts as a textural catalyst and interplays well with sushi rice and nori seaweed.

Krug is an exceptional wine. It is a taste bud provoking Champagne that is necessary with sushi that includes anything fried such as salmon skin or soft shell crab.

Billecart Salmon “Elizabeth Salmon” is a perfect lubricant for Toro.