For Pete's Saké! - American Cheese & Japanese Saké

 Saké, AKA Japanese rice wine, has been steadily making inroads in the American wine scene. I’m not a saké expert by any means, but I do know a little about it and recently participated in a sake and cheese tasting, sponsored by SakeOne.

(If you want comprehensive info, my friend Richard Auffrey has a great site about saké ).

You might wonder why sake and cheese, as opposed to sake and sushi…well, cheese and saké both contain lactic and amino acids. For cheeses, the lactic acid contributes to aromas and flavors. In the case of saké, lactic acid often imparts a creamy, buttery taste and aromas. Amino acids, found both in saké and cheese, are specifically glutamates, which when present in foods or beverage, provide a richness and savory quality -- what folks like to call umami. Therefore the flavors tend to be complimentary, not diametrically opposed

Four Saké were presented along with a specific cheese pairing: Going left to right we have: 

1)   Momokawa Organic Junmai w/ Marin French Petite “breakfast” Brie

2)   Momokawa Organic Nigori w/ Laura Chenel’s Chevre

3)   Kasumi Tsuru Kimoto w/ Laura Chenel Ash-Rind Buchette

4)   Yoshinogawa Winter Warrior Junmai Ginjo w/ Rouge River Blue

So, how’d we do?

#1--The saké here is light, very mild with tropical and resin notes and felt too mundane, but you’ve gotta love brie with anything. #2--This is the cheese, goat specifically, that put Laura Chenel on the map. This saké is reminiscent of almond milk, mildly sweet and fairly viscous. #3--Saké was nuttier, a slight mushroom and resin quality which worked well with this aged goat cheese. #4--This saké from the 5^th oldest brewery in the world in Japan is full of tropical sweetness, both tart and tangy, a leather funkiness (in a good way) which worked well with the musty, tangy and potent Oregon blue cheese.

The tasting was done on-line with other writers from across the country

The point of this experiment was to get outside of imagined boundaries, try new things and to consider saké and what it might work well with. I’m ultimately a fan of drinking what you want with eating what you like, however that said, there are some favors that coexist together for good reason. So, find some saké to try – these versions ranged from $14 to $27 for a 750 ml, and the cheese from $4.99 to $14.99. Therefore it’s easy to play around with flavors, tastes, viscosities and have fun, and to expand your palate.  Check out SakéOne for tons more info, and read my review of the book Sake Confidential.

Sake Bombing - The Definitive Guide to Rice Wine

Sake, the poor confused, misunderstood stepchild to wine. I know very little about sake; yes I’ve had it at Japanese restaurants and sushi joints offered by people who probably know only slightly more than I do – and that ain’t saying much. So when John Gaunter’s latest book, Sake Confidential; a beyond the basics guide to understanding, tasting, selection & enjoyment  ($11.95, Stone Bridge Press) appeared I needed to get a copy. There’s a Japanese proverb that says - “It is the man who drinks the first bottle of sake; then the second bottle drinks the first, and finally it is the sake that drinks the man.” Take from that what you will. As an accomplished wine writer it’s easy to assume I know pretty much everything – alas, I don’t and sake is one of those beverages, I admit, is elusive and I’ve taken little time to learn anything useful about – this in spite of the fact that sake (fermented rice) goes back at least 2,000 years. So this book, a slender 180 pages, vastly helped me comprehend the nuances and diversity of sake. Like wine, there are many different sakes utilizing different yeasts, water types, the regionality of the rice and the actual rice itself. And since Gauntner is the only non-Japanese certified Master of Sake, well, the dude abides. “There are certainly other ways to improve your sake tasting skills. Fortunately your experience in tasting other things - including but not limited to wine - is transferable,” he writes. “If you have such experience you may be farther along than you think.” And that’s the cool part of this; if you love wine it’s an easier transition to sake. Gaunter writes in a straightforward style, nothing flamboyant and pretentious, just solid, basic information presented in a compelling style, and compelling enough that you’ll want to learn something about sake. And FYI, there’s actually a sake museum in Berkeley, outside of San Francisco, should this book draw you that deeply into sake.