Exciting, New, Chilled Sakés

by Randal Caparoso

If you're like many Americans, you're hanging out in more and more Japanese restaurants these days. Why not? The food is light, it's clean, and always seems fresh. What you've probably noticed is more and more saké—the rice wine of the East—served well chilled, rather than warmed. These sakés also seem to be dryer, lighter, silkier, and more multi-food compatible. Why? Because they are.

"Good saké is always served cold, mediocre saké warm and bad saké should be boiled!" says Grif Frost, author of Saké: Pure + Simple, and chairman of the International Saké Institute. You would no more heat up a fine saké than you would a fine bottle of Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Although traditions die hard—the vast majority of fine restaurants still serve even the new, chilled-style sakés in tiny tasting cups—fine sakés are actually far better appreciated in the same way as a chilled white wine: in clear, graceful, stemmed, tulip-shaped wine glasses. As with wine made from grapes, fine sakés have delicate—and in the best types, startingly beautiful—aromas, somewhat akin to fresh honeydew melon, and often apples, pears, Muscat and roasted nuts. Fine saké is definitely best enjoyed swirled, sniffed and sipped like any fine wine.

Haruo Matsuzaki, considered the finest saké judge in Japan (purportedly able to identify over 1,000 sakes at a time in blind tastings), is not averse to using descriptions like "dew on green meadows," "snow on mountainsides" and "clear, running brooks" when describing the aromatic qualities of fine sakés. This is not so strange when you consider that the Japanese language lends itself far more easily to intangible, nature-related expressions than our stodgy English, and the fact that the best sakés do have stony, fluid subtleties, especially when very dry.

You can now find quite an array of fine sakés from Japan, as well as the U.S., in specialty wine stores and the most sophisticated Japanese and non-Japanese restaurants. Probably the most important indications of quality to look for on labels are the words Ginjo ("premium") or Daiginjo ("ultrapremium"). The difference has to do with the quality of the rice (certain varieties of saké rice are considered superior, like the difference between Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay Noir), polishing (the finest sakés are made from rice milled to less than half the size to achieve the smoothest, purest flavors), and amount of handcrafting in the kura (saké brewery). Ginjo sakés sell from $8 to $25 in the U.S., and Daiginjo from $25 to $75 (in rare instances, up to $100).

Is saké really a wine? Although it is made from rice rather than grapes, the taste of fine saké is far closer to wine than to beer. Like traditional wines of the West, the alcohol level of saké is higher (15% to 17%, as opposed to beer's 2% to 6%), and the aromas and flavors more naturally fruity than malty, hoppy or yeasty. Saké is, in fact, fermented in a fashion similar to many fine white wines of today: in temperature-controlled, stainless-steel tanks. The major difference when it comes to saké making is that before fermentation an enzyme called koji is added to batches of steamed rice to convert the starches into the sugars yeasts need to create alcohol.

The end result is something like fine white wine: a drink that goes wonderfully with not only Japanese-style foods, but also seafood and white meats of all types. Try a plate of raw oysters; or risotto in mushroom (better yet, truffle) broths with freshly grated Parmigiano. Raw and smoked fish of all types are natural with the new chilled sakés, as are wok-charred vegetable dishes, meats in sweet or spicy barbecue sauces, and curries. Think of these sakés as being like dry or off-dry white wines with a little extra punch.

The biggest benefit of the new chilled sakes is that they are pure, natural products containing no sulfites, glutens, or rough or bitter phenolics (unlike wine made from grapes) which contribute to hangovers and fatigue the next day.

Here are twelve fine sakés and their approximate retail prices:

= Yaegaki Mu "Nothingness" Daiginjo (Japan, $30-$50/720 ml.)–Lush, complex, Daiginjo nose of white peach with exotic, mango-like notes; silken, fine and delicate on the palate, with a minerally flow, finishing dry and snappy.

= Wakatake Onikoroshi "Young Bamboo Devil Killer" (Japan, $30-$50/720 ml.)–Intense Daiginjo fruitiness suggesting lush pear, green melon and pineapple; round and layered feel, finishing full with minerally dryness and mildly bitter, honeyed nut tones.

= Gekkakow "Vintage 1999" Daiginjo by Kiuchi (Japan, $70-$80/720 ml.)–A rare, single vintage saké, aged three years in stainless-steel tanks before release. Beautifully bright, pineapple-coconut scent with licorice nuances; fine, silky entry with salt-watery flow, rounded fullness in the middle, and a mouth-watering, nectarine-like finish tinged with a whispering sweetness.

= Kurakagami "Mirror of the Kura" Daiginjo by Kiuchi (Japan, $40-$60/720 ml.)–Fresh, lacy, classic Daiginjo notes of honeydew melon and peach skin, wet stone and anise seed; silky, almost oily texture, buoyantly balanced feel of tropical fruit, finishing with an emphatic dryness.

= Minowamon Daiginjo by Daishichi ($65-$85/720 ml.)–Lush, tropical fruit nose suggesting mango, dripping pears and water on green grapes; emphatically dry and dense impact on the palate with a weighty, rice-like feel and mild, apple-like crispness.

= Kurahibiki "Echo of the Kura" Daiginjo by Kiuchi (Japan, $65-$85/720 ml.)–Sweet melon and green meadow-like freshness in the nose; full, dry, "rounded stone" structure, transitioning into nut-toned, green melon flavors edged with the slightest sweetness.

= Ken "Sword" Daiginjo by Suehiro (Japan, $65-$85/720 ml.)–Lush, fresh apple and green grape aromas with hints of charcoal; elegantly balanced like fine, dry white wine, but full and fleshy like first rate saké, finishing with a dramatic, mouth-watering, watermelon-like fruitiness.

= Ginga Shizuku "Divine Droplets" Daiginjo by Takasago (Japan, $50-$70/720 ml.)–Juicy apple and "stony brook" aromas with subtle char; creamy, fleshy and layered on the palate with melon-y fresh, lively, mildly anise-like flavors, given a bright, almost umami-like (or "savory") definition.

= Y "Wind" Daiginjo (U.S.A., $30-$35/750 ml.)–The finest saké (as well as the historical first Daiginjo) made in the U.S. Delicate melon, banana oil and faintly yeasty, dough-like notes in the nose; bone dry, lean but smooth, fluid feel on the palate, laced with mild, honeyed fruit qualities.

= Hatsumago "The First Grandchild" Ginjo by Meiju (Japan, $20-$25/720 ml.)–Classic Ginjo style-natural, clean, and mildly earthy-opening with a creamy, sweet melon aroma, developing round, easy, mildly minerally qualities on the palate.

= Ozeki "Premier" Ginjo (U.S.A., $19-$24/720 ml.)–Creamy pear, melon and mildly charred notes in the nose; fairly dry and soft feel in the entry, finishing with wet fruitiness tinged by mildly sweet alcohol.

= "Napa Saki" Ginjo (U.S.A., $20-$25/750 ml.)–Easily identified by its exotic blue bottle and wooden"Japanese hat" stopper (see photo, top right). Airy fresh, creamed corn and roasted nut fragrances; soft and easy entry, finishing dry and lean.

© Randal Caparoso