There
are about 1,600 kura, or breweries, producing sake in 46 out of Japan’s 47
prefectures. No individual region compares to Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont or
Napa—a sake place of origin is important, but no region sets a
standard.
Likewise, the type of rice used is critical, but it does not define
sake the way grapes do wine. “Yamada nishiki is recognized as the overall best
rice used to make sake,” says John Gaunter, author of The Sake Companion, (2000,
Running Press) and The Sake Handbook, (2002, Tuttle). Ohio-born, but a resident
of Japan for more than 15 years, Gaunter, who was trained as an electrical
engineer, has taken the moniker, “the Sake Guy.” He is as knowledgeable as he is
passionate about the subject.
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