In the middle of severe Russian winter in Vladivostok there was held a "warmer upper" event. Well, it was really a warmer upper since it happened to be a top-rank sake sampling by taste. A Japanese wine expert briefly described the process of producing sake in present-day Japan, rather traditional business though. Sake is often misread as Japanese vodka or wine, what is equally far from truth. It is a result of fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Unlike wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in grapes, rice for sake does not contain the amylase necessary for converting starch to sugar. That is why they use special microorganism (a mold) – koji aka Aspergillus oryzae to extract sugar and make fermentation possible. Unlike vodka, sake is not distilled – it is brewed, like beer. 

When the new sake is brewed they hang a globe of Japan cedar leaves outside the brewery. The globe changes color from green to brown over time, reflecting the maturation of the sake.

Taste of sake differs from that of wine and can have many flavor notes, such as fruits, flowers, herbs, and spices. We tasted Junmai Daiginjō-shu, it is supposed to be a quite ceiling level of sake, and I can say that after sampling I chose at least 2 sorts I would like to have at home. And I liked it more than I like wine.

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