Sake and the Wines of Japan

Book excerpt: Welcometo the 'new sake'. Until recently it had seemed that the industry was indecline but now the market for premium sake has seen sales flourish both withinJapan and worldwide. Many misconceptions surround Japan's nationaldrink, from how it is brewed to the relative merits of ginjo, junmaiand namatypes and from the ideal servingtemperature to its ageing potential. Anthony Rose's new book aims to bringclarity to the confusion surrounding this fascinating wine. Beginning with sake's long history, Rose takesus on a journey across the centuries to explain how the industry evolved. Sakehas been brewed in Japan for more than 2000 years, though the process onlyreally took off during the Edo period (in Western terms, between the seventeenthand nineteenth centuries). The wine's long history also makes it culturallyimportant and no study of sake would be complete without an exploration of itsrole in ceremony and religion, and the myths, legends and stories that surroundit. Rose begins his technical notes on sake withan explanation of the different grades of sake. Labelling rules and regulationsare given due consideration in order to enable readers to understand the labelson their bottles before the discussion moves on to an analysis of sake'sflavours. The production process and the structure of anindustry that includes 1200 breweries across 47 prefectures, from the small andartisan to major commercial concerns, are covered in detail. The part played byclimate and geography in sake's flavours is explored along with aninvestigation into the differences imparted by the water, rice, yeast and koji(fermentation mould) used. Rosedevotes an entire section to profiling the most important breweries across themain sake-producing regions and also includes details on the more recentlyemerged non-Japanese producers. With thorough appendices for those who want todelve further into the statistics this is an essential addition to the libraryof the serious wine enthusiast or student.