How Rice Wine is Made

When most people think about wine they think about something alcoholic that is make of either red or white grapes.  If they are able to get passed this first impression of what they like to drink, or to make, then it may have an element that includes fruit, peaches, strawberries or perhaps cherries, or maybe they will consider a honey wine. But that is as far off the normal course of winemaking that most people usually think of. Yet, there are so many other possibilities when making wine. One of these is making rice wine, also known as sake or Japanese rice wine.

In much the same way as grape wines are made from carefully choosing the right grapes for the flavor that is being looked for not just any rice grain will do for make rice wine. The right grain must have a lot of starch in the middle of it.

This is necessary to prevent the grain from falling apart during the winemaking procedure. This extra length of time is needed to ensure that all the protein and oils have enough time to be removed from the grain. Therefore the right rice must be grown under the right conditions.

The best grains, as believed by the Japanese growers are said to flourish in an area called Fushimi. This place has the right weather for good growth. It is not too hot, not too cold and has an underground spring that ensures the correct taste of the grain of rice.

To make sake there must be two fermentation procedures that take place and they must happen at the same time. The grain starches need to be made into sugar while at the same time this sugar must be made into alcohol. This is done with yeast.  Because the best sake breweries perform these two stages at the same time, sake has a higher alcohol level that other wines.

Sake must combine the tastes of sweet and tartness. Using the best grains of rice, with the right water, malt, and yeast, is the only do this. The rice is steamed before being made into sake. The belief in Japan is that only the most skilled can make truly excellent sake.  This is not something done in somebody’s basement.

The breweries will tell you that sake is easy on the stomach despite the high alcohol content.  They will also claim that here is no morning after hangover when you drink it because of the process that is used to make it.  Some feel that the lack of a hangover is a good reason to enjoy sake.

Despite the fact that it is a drink enjoyed by westerners it is not one commonly attempted in home winemaking. Yet many enjoy Japanese dishes like tempura shrimp, sushi or sashimi and like to have a bottle of sake to wash down this delightful treat.  It is also becoming more common to enjoy with western food.  So perhaps it will change the attitudes of those attempting to make unusual wines.