If you think that sake is just this drink that is served in small glasses where naked women appear in some Chinese restaurants, you are wrong. In the TV program Les bons vivants , wine columnist Oliviers Poels annihilates the bad reputation of this Japanese liquor.
What is sake?
It is a rice alcohol obtained not by distillation, but by fermentation, just like leavens. The beverage has existed in Japan for millennia.
Why can sake get closer to wine?
"There is a lot of parallels between sake and wine," says Olivier Poels. "There is the variety of rice, as we have the grape varieties, we also have the notions of terroirs, know-how, tasting and culture," says the specialist.
Today, sake is also used in wine glasses and not only in small stemless glasses. On the other hand, the aromas are different from those of wine. "We have less acidity, we have something a little more round in the mouth."
How is a good sake defined?
Once again, just like wines, all productions are not equal. Since this alcohol comes from the fermentation of rice in spring water, these two elements are essential and it is they who will determine the quality of the sake. "So you need an exceptional rice". The more the rice has a high polishing rate and the higher the starch content, "which will give interesting expressions" to the sake, says the chronicler. The spring water will, for its part, give its purity to sake.
What price should you count?
Sake is "relatively expensive", warns Olivier Poels. A bottle can easily be worth around thirty euros. "It's expensive because it's rare, it requires great expertise and it's imported from Japan."