SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

Like any foreign and complex subject, saké has generated a lot of confusion for Americans, both those who profess to like it and those who have never tasted it. Discovering good saké can be a life-altering experience, but clearing up the misconceptions is the first step in the enjoyment of this amazingly subtle and delicious Japanese beverage. Saké is not technically “rice wine” – it’s actually a brewed product, more closely related to beer – but it’s frequently thought of in the same terms as wine and can be described using wine-tasting terminology. Like wine, it’s usually consumed with meals. The best sakés should be served cold, not hot. Although the practice is widespread, serving saké warm is often an attempt to disguise the taste of a lesser-quality product.

The range of saké types is what most confuses would-be saké drinkers. The various grades of saké are determined by the amount of rice hull that’s milled away before the saké is made. More milling (or “polishing”) is better, since it leaves only the fragrant center of the rice kernel, and prices rise accordingly. The very best sakés, called junmai daiginjo, are made using only the tiny interior portion of the rice grain, between 50 and 65% of the grain being milled away. For the junmai ginjo grade, 40% of the grain is polished away, and the junmai grade has at least 30% of the rice milled away. Honjozo sakés have some alcohol added during the fermentation process. The term tokubetsu means “special,” and indicates a saké that has been made with extra care or superior rice. The type of rice used is of paramount importance in fine saké, and the place where it’s grown is equally significant, giving the best sakés a sense of terroir as defined as that of any Burgundy.

For non-Japanese speakers, reading sake labels can be confusing (if not impossible), but the premium sakés brought in by today’s most creative importers, such as San Francisco–based Vine Connections, have poetically translated English names. Be sure to check back labels, too, where you will often find information on the brewery, the grade, and the type of rice used.