Sake for Beginners

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View the entire table of contents
for the March 31, 2005 issue

See Also
Wine Talk: John Salley
A Brave New World of Cheddar
Inside Wine: Water Hazards
Challengers and Incumbents in the Capital
Coming Home
2003 Northern Rhônes
The New Man At Mouton-Rothschild
Mouton's Departing Master
A Challenge for Bordeaux
The Great Cork Debate
The Genie in the Bottle
Cork's Time Has Passed
The Science of Closures
Sake Enters Western Wine Lists
Japanese Restaurants Break Away
Bridging East and West With Wine

Nick Fauchald
Issue: March 31, 2005

How Sake Is Made Like wine, sake begins with simple ingredients (in this case rice and water) that are transformed through accumulated wisdom and deft craftsmanship into a complex beverage. Premium sake falls into two main categories: honjozo (to which a small amount of distilled alcohol is added) and junmai (pure rice sake).