Boston Wine Expo 2001 -
Sake & Sushi

One of my favorite seminars at the expo was the Sake & Sushi one, held Saturday afternoon. I am a huge sushi fan, and enjoy sake quite a bit, so it was a treat to hear Jim Opaleski and Hiromi Iuchi discuss sake in the states and in Japan.

Jim explaining the sake production methods

We began with Jim from Momokawa, the only premium sake maker in the US. Located in Forest Grove Oregon, they begin with Japanese rice that is grown in California. The rice starts out brown, with a husk like an ear of corn. This is brought to a silo outside the Kura, or brewery, to maintain an even temperature. It is then sent through a machine sort of like the two-tires-spinning pitching machines used by baseball players. The kernel of rice is shot through these rubber wheels and stripped of the husk. The husks are sold to farmers for animal feed.

They now mill the rice, sort of like tumbling rocks. A grain of rice is made up of proteins, lipids, starches and fats. The aim is to remove the outer layers of impurities and end up with only starch. They then steam it. The first set of rice is called the "Moto" - this is a very strong extraction. The remaining rice is then sprinkled with a very thin layer of Koji mold. Koji is dangerous when breathed in and must be handled carefully.

an assistant, Lloyd, Hiromi, and Jim

Momokawa is the only US brewery with the traditional cedar room where the rice now rests to have the mold turn the starches into sugars. They then blend the moto and koji rice with water, send it through a filter, and then let it ferment. This is the "Day of Dancing" stage where the winemakers take a break. The sake ferments and ages in a tank, while constantly being stirred. Depending on the sake type, it goes through different filtrations at this point. A normal sake will get 2 presses and 2 filtrations, while the 'nigori' cloudy sake gets only one filtration.

US regulations require sake to be pasteurized, so it goes through a flash pasteurization. This brings the sake up and down to the temperatures of 165 - 40 - 165 - 40 - 165 to kill any bacteria in the sake. Sake still needs to be served fresh to have the best flavor, though. It should be drunk within 2 years of being bottled, and once opened a sake should be finished within 10 days.

A good sake is normally clear, not yellow. Tasting glasses used by sake testers includes a bullseye pattern on the bottom. The clearer the lines, the better the sake. The highest quality is a daiginjo. There are currently no US producers of daiginjo, although Momokawa will be bringing one out next year.

Sake & Sushi Tastings

Boston Expo 2001 Main Page