A few months ago I wrote a series of posts about saké—the Japanese brewed beverage that is sometimes erroneously called rice wine. Shortly thereafter I received a care package from Saké One, an importer that also brews a range of ginjo grade sakés in the United States.

We know you just can’t get read enough about sake. In this post we share our tasting notes on a handful of premium varieties.

Sake is produced throughout Japan, from the Northern most island of Hokkaido to Okinawa. With thousands of breweries—each offering several different varieties of sake—one could spend a lifetime getting to know this intriguing beverage.

Sake has been a part of Japanese life and culture for some 2000 years. It is sometimes erroneously called “rice wine” but as I found out last week at a tasting of premium sake, some comparisons to wine are difficult to avoid.