O-Ku Sushi

A 144-label wine list at a sushi restaurant is not something you see every day, and O-Ku leans into it hard. The sheer number of by-the-glass options — 70, which is legitimately wild — signals that someone here actually thought about wine. Whether the execution lives up to the ambition is another question.

The list skews heavily toward whites and bubbles, which makes sense given the menu, and the Pacific Northwest representation is genuinely strong — St. Innocent's Freedom Hill Chardonnay and Benton Lane Pinot Noir showing up on a sushi list is the kind of thing that makes us do a double-take in a good way. There's also a solid Oregon and New Zealand thread running through the whites, with the Drylands Sauvignon Blanc and Argyle Chardonnay earning their spots. The Champagne section has range — from Avissi Prosecco as the entry point all the way to Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015 at the top — though leaning so hard on Veuve for prestige feels a little hotel-bar. Gaps show up on the red side: the list thins out considerably, and if you're a Nebbiolo or Tempranillo person, you may be eating omakase with a Pinot Noir because that's what's left.

Seventy by-the-glass options is either a stroke of genius or a logistical nightmare, and we suspect it's a little of both. The range covers Prosecco through Rosé Champagne, Albarino, Viognier, and several Chardonnays, which gives you real choices to match your progression through the meal. The risk with a list this big is that wines sit open too long — freshness on those pours is something worth asking about before committing.