Eat, Drink, Savor: Ozeki Sake is a delightful change of pace

Sake wine is an immediately recognizable image of Japanese tradition and is enmeshed in Japanese each day life. Like champagne, it’s a part of weddings and celebrations. Like sacramental wine, it’s concerned in spiritual rituals and devotions. Like wine and beer, it’s used as an on a regular basis beverage with meals, desserts, or simply by itself.

First brewed 1,300 years in the past, the easy substances—rice, water, yeast, and mildew—are ready, processed and mixed in several methods to create a large spectrum of nuanced flavors. This small miracle of wine brewing is carried out six days every week at Ozeki Sake in Hollister.

Seiichi Matsuda, procurement assistant supervisor at Ozeki Sake, defined that sake doesn’t survive worldwide journey very nicely and the mother or father firm, Ozeki, based in 1711, determined to discover a location in the USA. Hollister was chosen primarily based on the standard of its water provide and proximity to agricultural areas, although immediately many of the rice comes from farms close to Sacramento. This facility, based in 1979, is the oldest sake brewery in the USA.

Matsuda invited me to take a tour of the brewery. Eden Rift winemaker Cory Waller joined me on the tour.

Our tour started merely sufficient, outdoors of the principle constructing, standing in entrance of dozens and dozens of large sacks of rice. It’s short-grained rice, much like that utilized in Japanese eating places for sticky rice. 

The method begins with milling off the outer layers of the rice, a crucial stage for sake making that helps scale back the grain’s starch content material.

“Our sprucing machines are one thing that makes us distinctive,” Masuda stated. “No different sake makers have one. It offers us nice management over how a lot the rice is polished.”

The polish charge is expressed in how a lot of the rice grain stays. Most Ozeki sakes have polish charges of 70%, that means that 30% of the grain has been polished off. In finer sakes, as much as 50% of the rice grain is polished off. Sprucing the rice removes bitterness from the sake, making it smoother. 

After sprucing, the rice is given a fast wash, now not than 10 seconds, to take away any mud. Following the wash, the rice is soaked in water, with the time and temperature relying on how a lot the rice has been polished. The extra polish, the much less soaking time. The best polished rice would possibly soak for 10 minutes. Much less polished rice meant for traditional sake would possibly soak in a single day. The rice is then steamed for half an hour and cooled.

Following cooling, “issues get difficult,” Matsuda stated. Among the rice will develop into koji rice—rice that might be handled with a kind of mildew to create a starter for fermentation. 

“We unfold the rice with koji mildew and we let it relaxation for one or two days in a temperature-controlled room,” Matsuda stated. “This breaks starch right down to sugar. Among the rice will develop into shubo rice, which eats the sugar and poops alcohol. The starch-breaking course of is why making sake is extra like making beer.” 

Matsuda opened the door to the koji room for us however we weren’t allowed to step inside, in order not introduce different micro organism to the combination. The room is scorching and humid like a sauna to encourage mildew development, with an intense steamed rice scent. The rice is churned a couple of occasions a day by hand to maintain the mildew circulating within the combination.

The steamed rice, koji rice, and shubo rice are blended with water and put into fermentation tanks. The combination, referred to as “moromi,” is fermented for 20 days in 3,500- or 7,000-gallon tanks. Inside every week, the sake combine has develop into a effervescent cauldron of fuel and decomposing rice. Waller talked about that larger sugar content material wines, like roses and sauvignon blancs may even bubble similarly throughout fermentation. He additionally instructed that I not poke my head into the tank, because the buildup of carbon dioxide given off by the fermentation course of would knock me out rapidly.

After 20 days or so, the combination is drained into fabric baggage and pressed, squeezing the sake out of the moromi. The waste, or “kasu” in Japanese, will find yourself as meals for livestock.

This gave us our first probability to style recent, unpasteurized sake, straight out of the storage tank. 

“You may nonetheless style loads of the rice in there,” Waller stated. “You continue to get a little bit of the starchiness and the alcohol is excessive. And also you get a few of the yeasty flavors nonetheless.”

In tasting it, I seen a very nice aroma however the taste was uncooked and the alcohol packed a punch, measuring an estimated 19%. The ultimate processes, together with fermentation and mixing, will scale back that to between 14% and 16%. The sake is packaged on-site, in bottles starting from 150 ml via 1.5 liters, in addition to 1.5-liter casks and 19-liter boxed variations for bars. 

Ozeki needed to sluggish manufacturing through the pandemic, and now that eating places are reopening, it’s as soon as once more totally staffed and simply in a position to sustain with orders.

After the tour, we had a sake tasting the place Matsuda, Waller, and I had been joined by Ozeki Sake President Toru Ikemasu and manufacturing supervisor Yoji Ogawa. 

Listed below are the sakes we tried.

Draft Sake (14.5% ABV, 70% polish charge). Ikemasu referred to this as “mainstream sake.” Often, sake is heated twice through the brewing course of, as soon as earlier than getting older and as soon as earlier than bottling. Draft sake is simply heated as soon as, “It’s easy and I like the feel too,” Waller stated. “It has a sort of minerality and a fruity aroma.” The aroma may be very placing, virtually a banana scent, and the rice taste is delicate all through. The dryness of the sake would attraction to people who find themselves accustomed to larger alcohol ranges, as you get the flavour and smoothness with out loads of sweetness. This might be a superb sit-down beverage at a bar and excellent to serve earlier than a meal at a celebration.

Ozeki Dry Sake (14.5% ABV, 70% polish charge). When the corporate was based in 18th-century Japan, “Ozeki” was the very best rank in Sumo wrestling. Of all of the sakes we tried, this one to me was the winner. Waller famous that this one is somewhat sweeter and that the flavour of the rice comes via much more than within the draft sake. And aftertaste, with hints of roasted rice, lingers and would praise sushi or perhaps a risotto dish. Sake takes on distinct traits when served at totally different temperatures, and barely warming this one to about physique temperature mellows and refines the style. Waller talked about that heating the sake intensifies the alcohol style and deepens the rice taste.

Ozeki Sake Premium Junmai (16% ABV, 70% polish charge). Ikemasu beneficial this as your best option for individuals simply beginning to style sake. “Junmai” means “pure rice,” and the marginally uncooked rice taste comes via nicely. For starting sake drinkers who’re used to wine, one impediment goes from the familiarity of the flavour and traits of grapes to the extra delicate taste and textures of rice. The Premium Junmai is extra full-bodied and a bit sweeter, one thing you’d count on in a sauvignon blanc, however the rice taste takes it in a special course instantly. Savory and crisp, this clearly would go nicely with any Japanese meals—a bottle of this and a few tempura greens would make for a terrific begin to a meal. However it will additionally go properly with grilled flank steak. 

Ozeki Sake Platinum (16% ABV, 50% polish charge). That is “Daiginjo sake,” the very best high quality. The polish charge signifies that solely the middle of the rice is getting used to supply the sake, making the style a lot purer and cleaner. It’s extra light-bodied than the premium, with a superb medium dryness. The tone of this sake is nearer to high-quality champagne, although with out the carbonation. Waller in contrast the wealthy taste to tropical fruit, and the aftertaste is pure fruit that tapers off properly. Matsuto referred to this as “Kumpai sake,” a toasting drink serving the identical operate as champagne. I might not serve this with a meal and I might maintain it to champagne makes use of—sipping, toasting, having fun with with desserts. You do not need to cover or disguise the elegant taste.

Nigori cloudy sake (14.5% ABV, 70% polish charge). Cloudy sake is one which retains a few of the most interesting of the rice sediment that ordinarily is filtered out earlier than bottling. The ensuing combine is creamy, candy, full-bodied and milky white. It doesn’t have any lingering aftertaste and the rice taste is much like the tropical taste of coconut milk. For anybody contemplating attempting sake, it is a good entry level. It needs to be served chilled and would go nicely with any dessert. It will additionally complement very popular meals like spicy grilled shrimp or Szechuan hen.

Nigori pineapple cloudy sake (9% ABV, 70% polish charge) and Nigori strawberry cloudy sake (9% ABV, 70% polish charge). Each of those sakes are pure enjoyable. Matsudo stated these had been designed to draw individuals unfamiliar with sake. Undoubtedly dessert wines, they style like wealthy melted ice cream. Once more, served very chilled, these would each be good surprises at a cocktail party the place company could be searching for a fruity blended drink. The strawberry and pineapple don’t overwhelm the fragile rice taste and the decrease alcohol share is extra within the vary of an off-the-cuff white wine. 

Ozeki Sake is situated at 249 Hillcrest Highway in Hollister. At present, their salesroom is open by appointment solely, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. They are often reached at 831-637-9217. 

A tasting room might be open later this yr. Ozeki Sake is obtainable at Windmill Market and Inaka Japanese Restaurant in San Juan Bautista, in addition to Miyako Japanese Restaurant, Fortunate’s and Nob Hill Meals in Hollister.

BenitoLink is a nonprofit information web site that studies on San Benito County. Our workforce is working across the clock throughout this time when correct data is crucial. It’s costly to supply native information and neighborhood help is what retains the information flowing. Please take into account supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s information.