If sake’s excellence wasn’t yet codified, we’re making it official: This mysterious, vastly misunderstood beverage now enjoys a prominent position on sommelier exams, top wine lists, and our personal “fine wine” drinking rotation. So, for the sake of argument, please do cast aside any aspersions you may have—sake is the real deal, and today’s your chance to fully and forever comprehend the magic that’s happening in Japan.

Why Sawahime? For starters, everything they do is local, from premium rice to water source to hired employees, down to the very music that’s played during fermentation. For me, this is less a company and more a creative workshop where alcohol and passion combine to create very limited, very delicious works of art. What’s more, this tiny family-run property has received serious attention over the past decade with awards like “Brewer of the Year,” “Grand Champion,” and “Best in the World.” Today, we’re offering their limited “Tokubetsu” Honjozo, which boasts dry, creamy, refreshingly autumnal flavors that have been further enhanced by a small addition of potent brewer’s alcohol. It’ll pair with countless foods and occasions too, so break the mold and buy a couple of bottles—you’ll be happy you did!

SommSelect’s ongoing mission to be a diligent, wide-reaching curator has resulted in fine wine discoveries from many far-flung locales, and today, Japan is on our radar. Out here, rice is the sacred raw material, not grapes, and sake is the fascinating drink of choice. With its irresistible aromatics, astounding freshness, creamy palate, and deeply savory finish, one could make a strong case that top-tier sake is one of the most severely misrepresented and undervalued libations. I would even wager a guess that many of you have only tried sake when followed by “bomb,” or from a one-time purchase of a bland, mass-produced bottle that may have been served warm. Thankfully, times have long since changed for sake, and now more than ever before, the artisanal “good stuff” is being imported to our shores. 

As you likely know, we’re not dealing with any winemakers or cellarmasters today. In the realm of sake, the overseer is a master brewer, or “toji.” The toji at Sawahime is Hiro Inoue, and he runs his family’s 19th-century brewery in the most intimate way. He only hires locally, and only sources his raw material—rice, yeast, water—locally as well. Furthermore, he also runs a Master Brewers School nearby, in hopes to inspire the next generation. 

So, how is sake made? Though many brewers choose to buy bulk rice from all over Japan, Hiro only sources premium rice that is farmed locally. Once the rice is harvested in Fall and allowed to dry, the milling process begins at the brewery. Depending on the style and grade, the husks are polished down, removing proteins and fats to access the pure starch in the heart of the rice, also known as the “shinpaku”—the pearl inside the oyster! Generally speaking, the more polish a grain receives, the more refined the sake will be. At least 30% must be milled in order to be labeled “Honjozo,” which is a category that means a small amount of brewer’s alcohol has been added. This bottling had 40% of its husk removed, 10% more than required, leaving a seimaibuai (the Japanese term for the remaining percentage of rice) of 60%.

After polishing, the rice is washed and steamed, and a mold culture, called “koji,” is introduced to a portion of the steamed rice. The enzymes in the koji convert the starch into sugar, and the yeast will convert the sugar into alcohol during the brewing process. A small starter batch begins the brewing process, including all of the necessary ingredients—water, koji, yeast, and rice—which are gradually increased. After fermentation, the master brewer can either add distillate or avoid it altogether (known as Junmai). For this bottle, Hiro added a small amount of homemade distillate which classifies it as a “Honjozo.” Before bottling in 2022, it was pasteurized and filtered. Finally, to approximate the style and flavor of a sake, familiarize yourself with this “Sake Meter Value” chart. This bottle sits at a +5 with 1.4 acidity which indicates a dry, medium-bodied, refreshingly creamy style. Most sakes have a plus-minus scale on the back label so keep the above SMV chart handy. 

For the most part, sake is best soon after bottling, so I recommend consuming this over the next year. However, there’s no need to finish in one sitting—due to higher alcohol content, this can be kept in your fridge and consumed over one week after opening. When enjoying, do so around 55-60 degrees in all-purpose stems or traditional ceramic ochoko. As it warms in the glass, you’ll discover aromas of dried quince, red apple, star anise, hazelnut, black pepper, and pine needles. The palate is creamy, clean, and wonderfully refreshing with some deep autumnal/wintry notes that make this perfect for the weather. The obvious answer for pairing would be an array of sashimi or nigiri, but this bottle provides limitless options.