SAKE TO ME PEOPLE!

I have a problem.

Over the last five years of my life I find myself entrenched in the world of wine. I didn't drink it nor did I know anything about it until five years ago. I'm not going to sit her and tell you I know all there is to know about it now...in fact I will be there first to tell you i know very little...but tasting 63-87 wines a week (and sometimes more) for five years definitely teaches you a thing or two for sure...In the mean time I've seen CA wine country...Santa Barbara, Monterey, Napa Sonoma...I have traveled to them all and I am even making my own wine out in Monterey under the direction of Peter Figge of Figge Cellars. My label is called the Intern. A Pinot Noir compromised of two single vineyard sourcing as well as a Chardonnay done the same way...but i'll hold off on that for a bit...cause i got something else to talk about.

Besides wine I find myself very strongly drawn to Sake. Not the fake American kind that comes from California or Oregon. I am talking Jizake: locally produced Sake...by locally- JAPAN. Sake quality is determined by rice variety, climate, water quality, and production technique. It truly is a unique process one that no matter how many times I have been explained and diagram ed still confuses me. Anyhow like tasting wines I am always down to try Sake. Eating a lot of sushi always gives me a good excuse to do so. But even without a meal its refreshing to boot! So for the past five years or so I have been tasting and sampling all sorts of Sake and I must say with much and many thanks to the lovely lady I have found my fix. A Sake I simply am drawn to and come back to since she introduced me to it. I usually never go back to a Sake I have had, I mean with over 2,000 Sake producers out there, there is much to taste. But this one in particular, with its beautiful square sky blue glass bottle packaging, is a sight in itself. It only comes in 300mL size bottles....i know i know what you are thinking...get to the point already...what is it, where is it and how much is it? ...ahaha the Sake I speak of is Bunraku:Nihonjin no Wasuremono Yamahai Junmai:The Forgotten Spirit produced in the Saitama Prefecture. The Sake meter is +5 on the dry side and a +3 on the rich side. You should be able to find it at most reputable sushi restaurants that have decent to great Sake lists. Shouldn't be too expensive on any of them. My shop retails it for $13.99. I read somewhere that only about 1% of Sake is made in the Yamahai style. It's where the brewer uses native yeasts, simply those floating around in the brewery to make the starter mash. It is a very time consuming and hard process and thus only few still do it. I've had other Yamahai Junmai Sake before and they don't come close to Bunraku. It's clean crisp with a delightful earthiness to it producing a great mouth feel. It's nicely balanced and just simply sings. Well my delivery has arrived and someone has to spread the word and put it on the shelf...my mom asked me why I ordered 2 cases? I told her it was simple. 1 case is just for me. HA! Cheers.