gee... saké?

g saké - joy (NV)
SakéOne
Milled rice
American

Taking part in my very first Wine Blogging Wednesday, our theme this week is saké! (Original announcement) While I've had a couple different sakés here and there, and been told a multitude of different things regarding their serving temperatures, I'm by no means at all knowledgeable. So if you're a saké virgin, then this will hopefully be somewhat enlightening ... if you're a saké master, then you'll be sure to let me know if I've spoken incorrectly.

My choice for the evening was a bottle of American saké, made by SakéOne in Oregon which claims to be the only "American-owned" saké brewery. A brewery might make you think, "Wait ... that's not the place you make wine!" and you'd be right - saké is not technically wine. It is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made via the fermentation of rice. It is however commonly referred to as "rice wine" here in the States.


Rice used for saké is polished (the higher the polish, the higher the resulting quality) and then allowed to soak before beginning fermentation. Inoculated with a type of mold called koji, the rice ferments in the same way grapes, barley, or any other starch-laden product would producing alcohol from sugar. While average alcohol by volume for beer is 3-8% and for wine is 9-15%, undiluted saké (or Genshu) can be 18-20%!

Before getting into too much technical detail, here are my tasting notes.

Appearance: Clear, nearly water white with just a hint of yellow - like a white linen towel that just barely comes clean.

Nose: Clean nose with medium+ intensity (perhaps due to high alcohol). Aromas are astringent and antiseptic, but simultaneously floral and crisp. I distinctly smell caraway and sesame seeds (and that's not just my tuna steak!), anise, and a soft malty aroma.

Palate: Dry with medium acidity, full bodied, and smooth. Alcohol is high in wine terms, but perhaps average for saké - remember this is an undiluted bottle. Flavors include orange, lemon, and vanilla. Austere and clean. Incredibly refreshing.

I paired my saké with a wasabi and sesame crusted tuna steak from my local Whole Foods. This is honestly one of the best pieces of fish I think I've ever had, and the slight heat from the wasabi and the nuttiness of the sesame is a perfect pairing for the g. Each bite is an explosion of flavor (tuna cooked very, very rare by the way) and then the saké scrubs your palate clean, leaving a warm, but incredibly fresh feeling. This would be incredibly good with sushi! (Imagine that, right?)

As I mentioned earlier, serving temperature has always been incredibly confusing to me when it comes to saké. It turns out that first and foremost temperature is based on personal preference. However, higher quality saké is better appreciated with a slight chill. Hot saké is served in colder weather, but also the beverage may be heated to mask poor quality.

Another fun term to know is Ginjō-shu, which indicates that the rice was polished to at least 60% it's original size. According to the SakéOne website, g is classified as a Ginjō-shu saké. Anything beyond 50% of the original size is referred to as daiginjō-shu.

There is clearly too much too learn or talk about in just one saké tasting (or kikishu) but I would certainly recommend this bottle of g as a starting point. The producer promises joy inducing pleasure, and while it might just be that you get exceedingly tipsy incredibly fast, it's still fun to try something different.

Cheers!