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We found wines for less than $20 that enhance the flavor of sushi.

This month, our tasting panel got serious about pairing wine with sushi. Casual yet luxurious, sushi is fast becoming a popular takeout dinner from restaurants and supermarkets.

Pairing sushi with a randomly selected white wine won't necessarily ruin your meal, but it may not bring out the best in it. Fish this fresh and pristine deserves a good wine match.

Finding good wines was such a challenge that it took us two rounds of tasting.

First, we picked up sushi from Whole Foods Market on Preston Road to sample with 15 promising wines under $20, all but one of them whites.

We thought the hard part would be trimming a long list of contenders. We were wrong.

Although most of the wines were outstanding on their own, only a few met our criteria. We wanted wines that enhanced the sushi experience – that harmonized with the contrasting flavors in a standard sushi order: fish, rice, soy sauce, wasabi and an occasional bite of pickled ginger. We sought a wine that walked the tightrope of holding its own with these flavors, while letting the sushi shine. Some wines overpowered, others washed out and a few were simply unremarkable.

Armed with hindsight, we chose different wines and reconvened at Little Katana, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar on Travis Street. This time, we sampled a wider array of sushi and added sashimi. Out of 13 wines sampled, we found six winners. Alas, one has since vanished from Dallas.

The verdict? There are some great Western wine matches for sushi, but they aren't obvious choices. Our winners spanned the globe: from an Alsatian pinot gris, to a Bordeaux blanc, to a California blend of six varietals. We even found a red wine suitable for strong-flavored or fatty fish.

Here's what the panel learned from this tasting.

•Most of our winning wines were dry, crisp, clean and refreshing; this style cuts through the rich, fatty fish and matches with a wide variety of sushi, including vegetarian rolls.

•Two wines with an oily texture and richness also fared well, matching nicely with the fatty fish and extending the flavors in the mouth. These wines also went well with barbecued-eel sushi.

•Winners were characterized by aggressive fruit but no residual sugar. Wines with ripe fruit worked well when balanced with acidity.

•Some great wines with subtle or delicate fruit failed. Although beautiful alone, they were stripped of flavor when paired with sushi, soy sauce and wasabi.

•Red wines proved tricky. Although not versatile enough for a wide array of sushi, a fruit-forward, complex, full-bodied merlot is worth seeking out for barbecued eel, mackerel and fatty tuna (toro) sushi.

Tina Danze is a Dallas freelance writer.

THE MISSION: Find wines for less than $20 that enhance sushi.

THE FOOD, ROUND ONE: tuna, yellowtail and vegetarian sushi from Whole Foods Market

THE FOOD, ROUND TWO: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, white tuna, red snapper, smoked tuna, mackerel, fatty tuna and barbecued-eel roll, from Little Katana, 4527 Travis St.

THE TASTERS

Blythe Beck, executive chef, Hector's on Henderson; George Howald, Serendipity Wine Imports; Paul Pinnell, sommelier and restaurateur; Seth Wardlow, Prestige Wines; Cathy Barber, Taste editor; Tina Danze, freelance writer

($18; Brian's Wine & More, Whole Foods Market Plano, Monticello Liquor, Hops and Grapes in Duncanville)

An intriguing alternative white, this off-dry blend of viognier, pinot blanc, pinot gris, riesling, muscat caneli and albariño balances ripe fruit with acidity. The blend yields depth of flavor: lychee, apricot and citrus, as well as orange blossom and mineral notes. That layering of flavors and an oily texture made the wine a match for fatty fish.

"The wine gives an initial perception of sweetness, but there's no real sweetness there," noted Seth Wardlow. Blythe Beck called the blend "the pinball machine of wines" because it harmonized with the fish, vinegared rice, soy sauce and nori (seaweed wrapper on the rolls): "It hits the salty, spicy and fatty of the fish and the bitter of the nori. It dings its way through and hits all the points."

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($12.99; Sigel's, Central Market)

This blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon comes from Denis Dubourdieu, one of Bordeaux's most acclaimed oenologists. It's bone-dry, with lively grapefruit-citrus flavors. The panel found it to be versatile, marrying well with a variety of sushi and handling the pungent soy sauce. It paired especially well with the yellowtail. Mr. Pinnell pronounced it "crisp, clean and very austere – a real sushi wine."

($20.99; Cork 'n Bottle Co., Sigel's, Central Market, Put a Cork in It, State Street Spirits, Schrick's, Goody Goody, Vino 100)

This elegant blend of two-thirds pinot noir and one-third chardonnay melds red-fruit richness with classic chardonnay tropical fruit for a balanced, fruit-forward sparkler. Its cleansing character and dry finish made it a match with the tuna and yellowtail as well as with sushi rolls coated in sesame seeds. "The toasted, nutty character of the wine is a good complement to the toasted sesame seeds," Mr. Wardlow said. Mr. Pinnell noted that it cuts through pickled ginger very nicely.

($14.49, Central Market, Brut next to Hotel Palomar)

The panel's favorite

With its clean, bright fruit and refreshing profile, this delicious sparkler stole the show at our second tasting. "Drinking more is not enough," Mr. Pinnell gushed. The name was a little misleading for Mr. Wardlow: "It's not really extra-dry," he said. "It has rich, opulent fruit and great balanced acidity." He pronounced it a delicious match for yellowtail and wasabi. Mr. Howald found it "substantial and delicate at the same time." The entire panel fell head over heels for this versatile wine. It's a sure-fire crowd pleaser with a wide variety of sushi.

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($18.99; Central Market, Farpointe Cellar, Majestic)

Named for Romanus Albrecht, who began the Albrecht family's winemaking tradition in the 15th century, this rich, substantial wine lives up to its pedigree. Sweet and tart fruit flavors are enhanced by floral and mineral notes, lively acidity and a velvety texture. With stone fruit and pear flavors combined with an oiliness, Mr. Howald said, "it pulls in the flavors we were missing in the other wines" that didn't make the cut. Mr. Pinnell praised its richness and viscosity, adding that "its oiliness goes well with the fatty-fish sushi." It also married well with barbecued-eel roll.

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($6.99; Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Mr. G's)

You may be surprised that a budget table wine would be a good match for luxurious sushi, until you consider that vinho verde is coastal Portugal's wine of choice with seafood. This one is a shining example of the style: crisp, citrus flavors and a touch of effervescence. "It brightens the taste sensations in the mouth, making you receptive to the sushi bites," Mr. Howald said. "It tastes almost briny, in a positive way." Mr. Pinnell liked its "enticing grapefruit character and "beautiful mouth-feel." Although not particularly complex, this refreshing wine made for a great sushi pairing.

($24.99 to $29.99, select Centennials, Central Market, Pogo's, Goody Goody and Mr. G's)

A budget-buster, but worth it

After our first sushi and wine tasting, deep division arose over a red wine we sampled. Several panelists left convinced that red couldn't work with sushi; two others insisted they'd found a winner. Little Katana owner Odes Kim settled the argument when he brought this textbook California merlot to our table.

Mr. Kim, a native of Seoul, South Korea, says, "Asians appreciate a medium- to full-bodied red wine with some of the fatty sushi such as blue fin toro [fatty tuna], mackerel or even uni [sea urchin]."

This wine proved a hit with barbecued-eel roll.

"The fruit is explosive and mouth-filling," George Howald said. "The flavors of the food and wine are complementary."

Ms. Beck liked its "spicy spunk," and Paul Pinnell praised its "gorgeous fruit."

Several panelists said they never would have picked a California merlot for a sushi tasting, yet they hailed this pairing as a great experience.

"Don't dismiss this wine as just another everyday merlot," Mr. Howald said.

Although our wine tasting focused on Western wine with sushi, we also paid respect to an original sushi wine: sake. Here's a big bottle to buy if you're having a sushi party.

(1.8 liters for $45; Monticello Liquor, Plano Beverage Center)

Clean-tasting, full-bodied and slightly acidic, this sake is easy to like. Westerners typically drink sake with sushi, but it's best to pair this wine (remember, sake's made from rice, not grapes) with sashimi or sushi pieces – not rice-heavy sushi rolls – to maximize the interplay with fish. The price isn't as far off-budget as it looks because the big bottle is almost as large as a magnum. This Aramasa sake also is sold in half-liter bottles, but local stores stock only the large bottle.