Mutsu MAI Sake
I had all sorts of ideas for my re-inaugural staff pick. But looking back, most of them were already about Champagne or Rose or Rose Champagne. Time to branch out. But as luck (or more accurately poor judgment) would have it, I picked this weekend to um, experience a rather nasty cracked rib. Our Crawfish Boil became a Dance Party which eventually turned into a beer-fueled Napoleonic Complex setting me upon tackle-worthy boys. All this left me broken, woozy on Vicodin, unable to use a corkscrew or lift a 750ml wine bottle. Hiccups make me cry and sneezes sound like "Ah-ChOWWW $%#&^#!!!" Unacceptable. So I am enduring the pain drug-free long enough to self medicate/learn about Sake. I love my job!
Ironically enough my choice ("Mai") means Dancing in Japanese. It is "Tokubestsu-Junmai" (in a liftable 300ml bottle) which places this particular sake within a class of higher quality sake (~20% of production). FYI Good Sake is made from water and fermented rice. Period. That rice is first milled or polished, the more so the higher the quality (as there is less of it), then fermented with special Koji mold. Lower quality Sake includes lots of added alcohol. This particular one is very dry, and though delicate, boasts some more robust almost savory/cereal notes along with what I think (if memory serves) are tea flavors (white needle? genmai cha? I'm reaching *way* back to my days at the Korean Embassy here). Definitely better with food, particularly fried fish or tempura, though I'm dying to try it with calamari.
Which reminds me, I haven't eaten since yesterday. Why do all my friends call dibs on my leftover narcotics? No fun at all. Here's to good Sake and (hopefully) better judgment...the best medicine of all.
Posted by julia on May 28, 2008 in category: Wine - White
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