The Wine Pairing at Jungsik Is Its Own Meal
Seven courses, seven pairings, and one $110 glass of Krug I did not plan on ordering.
A wine pairing at a Michelin-starred restaurant is either an afterthought or a second meal running alongside the first. At Jungsik, a three-star Korean tasting menu in Tribeca, it is the second thing.
Seven courses, seven pairings. Each wine chosen with a specific argument: not just what tastes good alongside the food, but what pushes back against it in useful ways, or sharpens it, or arrives at the end of a dish and makes you understand what you just ate differently. The sommelier here is not decorating the table. He is working.
If you have not been to Jungsik and want the full picture of the meal first, I wrote about that separately. This piece is only about the wines.
The Sommelier
Kim Min-jun is the head sommelier at Jungsik, and in February 2025 he won the Michelin Sommelier Award, the most significant recognition in the field. He is not decorating the table. He is building a second arc alongside the kitchen's: lighter and more delicate at the opening, building through the savory courses, landing on something sweet and alive at the close. You feel the progression across the full meal if you are paying attention, and if you are not, you feel it anyway.
What he is doing is not always about matching the wine to the food. Sometimes it is about contrast, choosing something that cuts through rather than mirrors, that cleans the palate and makes the next bite make more sense. The Natus Field X against the gochujang aioli works that way. The Kumeu River Chardonnay against the scallop nurungji works the other way, citrus meeting citrus, each one sharper for the other. Both approaches are correct. The skill is knowing which one the dish needs.
WSET background note: I hold a Level 2 Award in Wines from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, which is a formal qualification in wine production, regions, and varietals. I am telling you this because it informs how I am writing about these pairings. It is not a guarantee I am right about everything, but it does mean these notes come from somewhere.
Course 1: Banchan
Champagne Ullens Lot 10 Brut NV, Domaine de Marzilly, Massif de Saint-Thierry, Champagne, France
Chalky and bright, with almond, lemon rind, grapefruit, and a faint brioche note underneath. Not a showy Champagne. It does not announce itself. Against the five opening banchan dishes, wagyu tartare, foie gras, squid ink joomukbap, that restraint is exactly right. A bigger wine would have buried them. This one opened things without taking over, cutting through the fat of the tartare and resetting the palate between bites. The right tone for what was coming.
Course 2: Striped Jack + Octopus
Natus Field X, Alentejo, Portugal, 2022
Two days on skins gives this white a texture and grip that most whites at this price point do not have. Lemon, stone fruit, and a slight tannic presence on the finish that adds structure rather than weight. The octopus is braised and crisped, served with a gochujang aioli that has real heat. A conventional white would have been overwhelmed. This one holds its position, pushing forward against the spice without fighting it. The kind of pairing where the wine makes the dish taste more like itself.
Course 3: Scallop Nurungji
Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay, Kumeu, New Zealand, 2020
Preserved lemon, ripe peach, a hit of struck flint, and a long clean finish. Bright and precise without being lean. The scallop nurungji is crispy squid ink rice still sizzling in the pan, topped with scallops and a citrus sauce. Bright citrus meeting bright citrus: the wine and the dish working in exactly the same register, each one making the other sharper. This was the pairing of the night. I still think about it.
Course 4: Sea Urchin Bibimbap
2013 Krug Grande Cuvée 169ème Édition Brut, Champagne, France (upgrade, $110)
Toasty and rich, with marzipan, warm biscuit, dried apricot, and a citrus depth that runs all the way through. This is not a delicate Champagne. The sea urchin bibimbap is Hokkaido uni over seaweed rice and kimchi, finished with crispy quinoa: rich, briny, creamy. Two large personalities agreeing that they belong in the same room. I did not plan on the upgrade. The toasty depth against the buttery uni was not a coincidence and I have zero regrets.
Course 5: Yellowtail Kimbap
Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba, Piedmont, Italy, 2022
Bright cherry, violets, ripe blackberries, and a subtle earthiness underneath. Fine tannins, good freshness, a floral note that lifts the whole thing. The yellowtail kimbap is truffle-seasoned rice in seaweed, soy-marinated yellowtail placed on top tableside. The dark fruit and mushroom quality of the Nebbiolo ties directly into the truffle rice. Earthy, floral, a little mysterious. It felt like a pairing someone had been thinking about for a long time.
Course 6: Galbi
Adaptation Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California, 2018
Wild blackberries, dark cherry, mocha, cedar, and velvety tannins with a lush finish. Big and structured without being heavy. The galbi is American Wagyu short ribs over barley rice and mushrooms, and at this point in the meal the beef is asking for something equal to it. The Cabernet meets it completely. The tannins work with the fat of the Wagyu the way they are supposed to: cutting through, providing contrast, leaving the palate ready for whatever comes next.
Course 7: Dolhareubang Dessert
Hétszőlő Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos, Tokaj, Hungary, 2010
Buckwheat honey, dried apricots, candied orange, ginger, black tea on the nose. Clementine, peach, and apricot on the palate, with a bright acidity that keeps all that sweetness from sitting too heavy. The Dolhareubang is black bean and hazelnut cream shaped to resemble the stone statues of Jeju Island, toasted rice ice cream, matcha grass, sesame boulders. The honeyed citrus of the Tokaji ties into the earthiness of the black bean and the toasted rice. A pairing where you stop noticing the wine and the food separately.
Final Thoughts
The standard wine pairing at Jungsik runs $175 per person. The Krug upgrade is $110 on top of that. Both are worth understanding before you sit down so you can decide what kind of evening you are building.
What the sommelier is doing across these seven pairings is not just matching wine to food. He is building a second arc alongside the kitchen's arc: starting with a delicate, precise Champagne against small bites, moving through a skin-contact white against spice, a bright New Zealand Chardonnay against citrus, building to Nebbiolo and Napa Cabernet against the savory mains, and closing with one of Hungary's finest dessert wines against a dessert that needed exactly that. The whole thing holds together. That is harder to do than it looks.
If you want the full picture of the meal itself, that article is here.
Notes
Jungsik
2 Harrison Street, New York, NY 10013 (Tribeca)
Reservations: exploretock.com/jungsik
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Sunday, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Closed Monday. Phone: (212) 219-0900
Private dining: Available, inquire directly
Gift cards: jungsik.com
About the Author
Kelly Gomez is a creative director who eats well, travels far, and lives with intention. She has sat at tables that required months of planning, flown routes that cross a dozen time zones, and found herself in rooms most people never find. She is precise about what she loves and honest about what falls short.
A WSET Level 2 Wine Certified writer and Advanced Open Water Diver, Kelly covers luxury travel, hotels, fine dining, wineries, diving destinations, and the trips built around them.
Her work reaches a US-based audience of travelers between 25 and 44, with a near-even gender split and a meaningful following.
