Welcome to the World of Sake!
It's made from fermented rice, in a similar process to the way beer is made, and is also sometimes called Rice Wine.
It's made throughout Japan, but about 60% of the sake in Japan comes from Hyogo prefecture in Kansai (West Japan).
As well as the quality of rice being an important factor, the water used also plays a large part in the quality of the finished product. In Hyogo, water from Rokko Mountain is particularly good for making sake.
Sake labels can be difficult to read (especially in Japanese!) and they have other numbers on there describing the taste of the sake, not just the alcohol.
There is the 日本酒度 (Nihonshu-do), or Sake Density/Sake Meter Value in English.
This is basically a measure of the sweetness of the sake.
A minus number is sweet and a positive is dry.
The size of the number tells you how sweet (or dry).
The other number to look for on the label is the 酸度 (San-do) or acidity.
A very useful Glossary of Terms on Sake Bottle Labels can be downloaded for free from the National Research Institute of Brewing in Japan.Click here for the download page
If you're interested in sake in this section of the site here you can search through our Sake Reviews, or login and add your own reviews or comment and score other people's reviews when you've sampled those sakes.
If you haven't yet, join here for free and start reviewing!
You can through the sakes here. Advanced Search
Why not try this sake?
Futaho "The Origin of Sake Rice"
Choryo
Nara, Japan
Choryo
Nara, Japan
This is another one from my recently joined Monthly Sake Club and it was entered into the Japan Slow Food Contest in 2009.
It's actually a Vintage Sake which is kind of unusual as generally sake' ...
Reviewer: MoIppai : 93
It's actually a Vintage Sake which is kind of unusual as generally sake' ...
Reviewer: MoIppai : 93
Latest Comments :
MoIppai on
Tenryou Tokubetsu Junmai Tobikiri (天領 特別純米 飛切り) : The Tenryou Brewery has a website in English at http://www.tenryou.com/en/ ...
MoIppai on
瀧鯉 (Takinokoi) 画竜点睛 (Garyoutensei) The Finishing Touches : I forgot to mention this also has a nice textured label, like old Japanese style paper. ...
MoIppai on
Umenishiki 海錦 : Their website is at http://www.umenishiki.co.jp/ but there's no English unfortunately. ...
MoIppai on
Fukuju Daiginjo : I had bought a bottle of it (actually I believe my parents bought it for me when they visited last y ...
