Japanese Cuisine and Wine Marriage｜Ise-Shima Oyado The Earth

We have wide variety of wine, sake, and cocktail selections and please as us for The Earth's original recommendation.

Japanese cuisine and wine marriage

Our dining concept is to pair exquisite Japanese Kaiseki with carefully selected wine. This embodies the French notion of marriage. As a sommelier, I have spent much of my career complimenting local foods from France with their neighborly wines. Ingredients from mountains also need wine from the mountains. Likewise, seafood meals need certain wines from the coast. Traditionally, whenever the French served an exquisite meal to the royal families, the meal would not be complete without the best of wines—the Bordeaux. Here at Oyado The Earth, we respect the culture of French wine by “completing” the meal with perfectly matched wines from France and the world. While it is not easy to pair wine with Kaiseki cuisine, I will use my knowledge and experience to create a culinary experience that you will never forget.

A Proposal from Oyado The Earth

Liquor—it is a word that not only means distilled spirits, but also Aquavitae, which combines Aqua (water) with Vitae (life), or "life of water.” During almost my entire career in French cuisine, I have never served saké, the quintessential Japanese spirit. In Japan there are four seasons, and in each season you can enjoy different ingredients. I now believe that, like wine, saké can compliment and reveal the subtle flavors of seasonal ingredients. In addition to our great saké, we offer cocktails after the meal that can add color and spice to your evening. This is our proposal from Oyado The Earth.

Senior sommelier:Nobuyuki Higashiura

J.S.A No.1863 Senior sommelier
HBA Senior bartender

A blissful experience for customers and wine at Oyado The Earth

I am in charge of everything related to wine, from planning wine fairs and creating menus to suggesting and serving wines tailored to each individual customer. Rather than just saying “this is what I think is good,” I carefully listen to the customer's preferences, mood, and budget, and work with them to select the perfect bottle of wine. I learn a lot from the conversations I have with our customers, which leads to new wine encounters.

As a sommelier, I try to convey the background and story of the wines I serve so that guests can not only drink the wine, but also enjoy the wine's story together. Especially at our inn, which mainly serves Japanese cuisine that makes use of seasonal ingredients, pairing the wines with dishes that change with the seasons is a major attraction, and I feel that this is where I can really show off my skills. As a sommelier, it is my greatest pleasure to maximize the delicate flavors of the ingredients and pursue the harmony of the food and wine.

Serving wine in the special setting of Oyado The Earth is both very rewarding and challenging. Customers seek different types of wine, and there is no set “right” answer. That is why we always try to be flexible and offer the best choice according to the situation.

In order to help our customers enjoy wine even more, I would like to attend seminars regularly in the future to broaden my knowledge. The world of wine is a profound one, and the more you learn about it, the more you will be drawn into its charms. I will continue to devote myself to providing unforgettable wine experiences for our customers.