Sake becoming "part of American life"

[Mulboyne]

The younger generation also enjoying the buzz
Bloomberg: Sake Lovers in U.S. Drip and Sip as Buzz Grows
The newest buzz beverage in the U.S. is sake, the centuries-old traditional rice wine from Japan. This year's Joy of Sake, the largest tasting event outside of the beverage's home country, was packed at its three stops: Honolulu, San Francisco and New York... "Drinking sake is becoming part of American life," said the event's organizer, Chris Pearce, a Hawaiian publisher who also owns World Sake Imports... What's causing all the excitement is premium sake, not that harsh warm drink served in ceramic carafes that many, like me, tried and rejected years ago... In its home country, sake is considered "your father's drink." While the U.K. has a few sake sommeliers, the only real markets elsewhere are Taiwan and the U.S. Many brewers are hoping America's enthusiasm for the rice wine will bring back Japan's younger generation...more...

[Mulboyne]

AFP: Japanese rice wine penetrates sanctum of French haute cuisine

Haute cuisine news flash: Japanese rice wine has found its way into a dozen of France's most prestigious restaurants, including a trio in the Michelin three-star firmament...It didn't get there by itself. Meet Kuheji Kuno XV, a six-foot, 40-something gentleman from Japan who almost apologizes in explaining that only nine of the last 15 generations in his family were sake makers. (Before that they were rice merchants.) Domaine Neuf produces some of Japan's most prized rice wine, and Kuno has never strained himself selling its modest production corresponding to 60,000 magnum bottles per year. But today he is on a mission. "I would like to show that sake is on a par with great grape wines, and that it can be paired with gourmet French cuisine much as grape wines are drunk with refined Asian food," said Kuno during a recent chat at the Hotel Crillon, which serves Domaine Neuf at its bar...Christian Vermorel, top wine steward at legendary Troisgros in Roanne, near Lyons, proposes sake with one particular seafood, a line-caught sea bass in an algae broth. "I tried several grape wines, and could not find a perfect pairing," said Vermorel. "This sake -- fruity and low in acidity -- is a marvel"...more...