Page 103 - WDT Winter 2018 japan

permarkets and specialty wine stores have good selections of intricacies of the sake. We know it as a fermented rice drink in
wines from around the world including some high-end Cali- a tiny cup served in Japanese restaurants around Ameria. In
fornia wines. We found some very drinkable whites including Japan, sake describes all drinks with alcohol including beer and
Sauvignon blanc, chardonnays, and blends from South Africa wine. The Japanese call what we know as sake nihonshu. How-
and Argentina at convenience stores in the $5-$10 range. Most ever, they serve you what we know as sake when you ask for it.
restaurants, other than fine dining establishments, offer a few There are as many kinds of sake as there are varietals in
affordable bottles of red or white wine for under $30 a bottle. wine. It is classified by the brewing process, type of rice and
We found house wines offered by many eateries were pretty degree of rice polishing. Among the types are junmai or pure
good at $5 or less a glass. rice sake; honjozo which contains a bit of distilled alcohol;
Then there’s sake which is synonymous with Japan and ginjo, premium sake that uses at least 70 percent polished rice;
its cuisine. For novice sake drinkers, deciding what and how and daiginjo, an expensive super premium sake from carefully
to drink it can be a bit daunting but fun experience. We were milled rice. There are many more types and subtypes, like one I
fortunate to bump into a sake and food festival while strolling accidentally ordered in a sake tasting room in Takayama. Nigori
through a Tokyo park where we sampled a half a dozen and is a milky looking unfiltered sake that ranges from creamy to
walked away with souvenir sake cups to boot. chunky. I had the chunky one and don’t recommend it.
As with wine connoisseurship, it can take years to learn the

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