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Wine pairings: Clement

Industry experts share their insights into matching food with drinks by giving real-world examples of dishes and the beverages that they serve with them.

The dish: Hudson Valley Foie Gras with wild berries, sansho pepper, and melon granita, $28

The sake: Rihaku “Dreamy Clouds” Tokubetsu Junmai Nigori sake, Matsue-shi, Shimane prefecture, Japan, $16 for a 3-ounce glass, $42 for a 300-milliliter bottle

Rice strain: Gohyakumangoku

The pairing: I find that pairings are sometimes the most interesting when they are unexpected; combining classic flavors across cultures in a pairing redefines the term “fusion.” Dreamy Clouds is a special, pure rice, unfiltered sake which is slightly sweet in flavor. That sweetness is in perfect harmony with the richness of the foie gras. The sake’s wintergreen, cucumber and anise notes add transformative layers of flavor to the dish, while its melon elements integrate it with the granita to form one seamless experience of gastronomic bliss as the silken textures of the foie and sake coalesce.

More about the sake: The brewery of Rihaku Shuzo is located on the southwest part of the main island of Honshu and is bordered by the Chugoku Mountain Range to the south and the Sea of Japan to the north. Dreamy Clouds is Tokubetsu, or “special,” because it is produced entirely from a premium strain of locally-grown Gohyakumangoku rice and is furthermore milled to 58 percent, which is 12 percent more than the minimum required for Junmai, or pure-rice sake. Nigori literally means “cloudy,” as the sake retains undissolved rice solids that contribute to its texture.

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