FSR magazine April 2018

l iquid i ntelligenC e W ine
people interacting with customers, their
influence has been huge.”
One such sommelier is Alex Trendler
of MIFUNE New York in New York City.
At the Japanese fine-dining restaurant,
he pours around 20 varieties of sake,
selling it in equal numbers with wine
and educating eager customers along
the way. “People want to experience sake,
and they want to learn way more than
just the name of it,” he says. “I love that.”
Haikara Sake
For Sake’s Sake
By Carly Boers
The popularity of
this traditional
Japanese alcohol
is increasing;
now is the time
to explore sake.
A cherry blossom
cocktAil mAde
with hAikArA sAke.
Sake iS officially booming in the U.S.,
says John Gauntner, president of the Sake Education
Council (sec)—an organization created to
promote sake education outside Japan. He has
studied the drink now for 30 years.
Gauntner says Americans’ sake consumption
has been on a steady incline since around 2000,
climbing around 10 percent annually to where it
sits today—more than 1.5 million gallons were
consumed in 2017. Sure, increased interest in Japanese
cuisine, namely sushi, is a driving force, but
Gauntner says a handful of factors play into the
current state of boom.
Lately, perhaps the biggest driver is the way
in which wine professionals have embraced sake.
“First sake started popping up in New York City
wine shops, and then in L.A. Then sommeliers
began offering it,” he says. “Since these are the
Sake 101
While enthusiasts like Gauntner and
Trendler do their part to educate drinkers,
the Japanese beverage is still largely
misunderstood in the U.S. For starters,
though it shares characteristics with
both, it’s neither beer nor wine. The
brewing process is closer to the former,
but, unlike beer, sake is brewed solely
from rice and without the presence of
enzymes.
Gauntner says wine comparisons
stem from the similar alcohol content—
sake has about 15 to 16 percent; wine,
roughly 10 to 14 percent—as well as the
manner in which flavors are assessed,
and the fact that both are typically
enjoyed with food. Also like wine, sake is
categorized. Instead of grouping by varietals
of grapes, however, sake is broken
down in terms of how much each grain
of sake brewing rice (of which there are
roughly 70 types) is milled.
Sake also varies greatly by region,
chiefly due to climate. The cooler weather
of Northern Japan means its sake is
fermented and stored at lower temperatures,
and the end product is cleaner
than that of its Western counterparts,
according to Gauntner. Regional food
also plays a role. For instance, brewers in
oceanside locations often produce light,
crisp sakes to match the area’s cuisine.
Emerging from sushi’s shadow
Sake is no longer just a means for washing
down sushi. In restaurants, it has
blossomed into a menu star in its own
right: Bartenders now craft cocktails
that spotlight the versatile beverage, and
sommeliers like Trendler look beyond
wine to offer comprehensive sake lists
FOODNEWSFEED.cOm april 2018 33