Give Sake a Serious Taste Test

How do you approach a good sake? Consider the same elements you would use to assess a wine you were tasting: first, consider the color and clarity; second, take a sniff and assess the elements of aroma that come up before you take a sip; third, take a sip and see what elements predominate on the palate; and fourth and finally, see how the finish lingers and closes.

I use the same rating scale for sake as I use for dry and sweet wines, taken from Spirit of Wine. I find that this five star scheme, with pluses and minuses, gives me precisely the information I want to remember to decide whether to purchase this wine - or sake! - again.

Consider a couple of premium-brand sakes I recently tasted:

The Toyo Bijin "Asian Beauty" Okarakuchi Junmai Ginjo sake from the Yamaguchi area of Japan has had 55 percent of the rice polished away prior to its fermentation. That puts this in the Junmai Ginjo category, and makes it more expensive than your "house" brand sake.

That degree of polishing should yield a clean, crisp flavor. Let's see what we find on tasting...

Color is completely clear. On the nose, you notice an interesting - though odd - sweet old dish rag smell. Not foul, but not completely sanitary in its style either.

On the palate, yes, there it is again - a touch of a wash rag, cleaned away with sweetness and a sort-of pea-like aroma. Interesting.

The finish is light, sweet and long. This receives three stars out of five on the Spirit of Wine scale, because it does make me curious for another encounter sometime in the future. Not a great value, though, at the premium price.

Find Junmai Ginjo at WineZap.

Yonetsuru Kappa Sake from Yamagata, Japan is made with 40 percent of the rice polished away, causing it to be designated a "special junmai" or "tokubetsu junmai". More rice polished away typically yields a cleaner, lighter, less-earthy sake, at a higher cost.

The Yonetsuru Kappa shows an aroma of light, green grass, with suggestions of sweetness and creaminess. On the palate, it is full and rich, even though mildly acidic. In effect, it shows a nice balance between its elements. There is a touch of sweetness in its easy finish.

This sake yields four stars out of five on the Spirit of Wine scale, as I would stay exclusively with this for an evening. Outstanding value in a sake.

Find Yonetsuru Kappa at WineZap.