{"id":171448,"date":"2024-07-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/?p=171448"},"modified":"2025-09-29T12:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:24:11","slug":"japanese-wine-a-brief-history-of-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2024\/07\/26\/japanese-wine-a-brief-history-of-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Wine: A Brief History of Sake"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calling it wine is not entirely correct, but it is the easiest parallel we can draw to gently approach this extraordinary millennia-old drink steeped in history: <strong>sake<\/strong>. In fact, it is somewhere between wine and beer, since some stages of its production are closer to beer, while its use and alcohol content resemble wine more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-emphasis wp-block-paragraph\">The culture of drinking sake has deep roots in Japanese tradition and it is undoubtedly the country\u2019s most representative alcoholic beverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key ingredient is rice, an iconic element of Japan, made simply with water, koji (<em>Aspergillus oryzae<\/em>) \u2013 a fungus used for the controlled fermentation of various foods \u2013 and yeasts. After milling and polishing, the rice is cooked, mixed with hot water and koji, and left to ferment. The koji converts the starch contained in the rice grains into sugar, which in turn is transformed into ethanol thanks to the yeasts. The result is a drink with an alcohol content of 15% to 22%, beyond which it can no longer be considered sake under Japanese law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"685\" height=\"1030\" src=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/DSC_8433-685x1030-2.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35827\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/DSC_8433-685x1030-2.webp 685w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/DSC_8433-685x1030-2-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/DSC_8433-685x1030-2-600x902.webp 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 685px) 100vw, 685px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But where does it come from?<br>The history of sake is still a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-block alignfull\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"surface-container-grayscale-low padding-row-xl padding-col-m\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"main-column\" id=\"customer_login\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"body-big-condensed margin-bottom-s\">Want to keep reading this article?<br>Log in or subscribe.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"flex can-wrap\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fill col-1-of-2 padding-l surface-object-grayscale-inverse\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<form class=\"woocommerce-form flex column space woocommerce-form-login login\" method=\"post\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-condensed margin-bottom-s\">Login<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-form-row woocommerce-form-row--wide form-row form-row-wide\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"username\">Username or email address&nbsp;<span class=\"required\" aria-hidden=\"true\">*<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Required<\/span><\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" class=\"woocommerce-Input woocommerce-Input--text input-text\" placeholder=\"username\" name=\"username\" id=\"username\" autocomplete=\"username\" value=\"\" required aria-required=\"true\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-form-row woocommerce-form-row--wide form-row form-row-wide\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"password\">Password&nbsp;<span class=\"required\" aria-hidden=\"true\">*<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Required<\/span><\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"woocommerce-Input woocommerce-Input--text input-text\" type=\"password\" placeholder=\"password\" name=\"password\" id=\"password\" autocomplete=\"current-password\" required aria-required=\"true\" \/>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-LostPassword lost_password margin-bottom-s\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"label-small-sans margin-top-s text-on-grayscale-opacity-high\" href=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/my-account\/lost-password\/\">Lost your password?<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect\" value=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2024\/07\/26\/japanese-wine-a-brief-history-of-sake\/\" \/>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"form-row\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label class=\"woocommerce-form__label woocommerce-form__label-for-checkbox woocommerce-form-login__rememberme\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"woocommerce-form__input woocommerce-form__input-checkbox\" name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> <span class=\"label-small-sans\">Remember me<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"woocommerce-login-nonce\" name=\"woocommerce-login-nonce\" value=\"c7c339e237\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171448\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"woocommerce-button button medium dim woocommerce-form-login__submit\" name=\"login\" value=\"Log in\"><span class=\"label\">Log in<\/span><\/button>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/form>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fill flex column gap-s space col-1-of-2 surface-container-grayscale-inverse text-on-grayscale-inverse padding-l\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"flex column gap-s\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-condensed\">Subscribe to Cook_inc.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"body-small-sans\">With a subscription, you\u2019ll get full access to Cook_inc. \u2014 from in-depth stories to exclusive content. Join the fam!<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/subscriptions\/\" title=\"Find out more\" class=\"self-start button medium bright\"><span class=\"label\">Find out more<\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calling it wine is not entirely correct, but it is the easiest parallel we can draw to gently approach this extraordinary millennia-old drink steeped in history: sake. In fact, it is somewhere between wine and beer, since some stages of its production are closer to beer, while its use and alcohol content resemble wine more. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188,"featured_media":70265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"selected_color":"","palette":"{\"media_id\":70265,\"colors\":[[177,171,164],[29,27,30],[106,63,37],[146,94,52],[106,103,103]],\"selected\":\"rgb(177, 171, 164)\",\"gradients\":{\"a1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f2\",\"#ffdf9d\",\"#f2bf48\",\"#d3a42e\",\"#b68a0e\",\"#977100\",\"#5b4300\",\"#322300\",\"#251a00\",\"#181000\"],\"a2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f2\",\"#f5e0bb\",\"#d8c4a0\",\"#bba987\",\"#a08f6e\",\"#857556\",\"#52452a\",\"#2f240c\",\"#241a04\",\"#181000\"],\"a3\":[\"#f6fff0\",\"#ecffe5\",\"#ccebc5\",\"#b0cfaa\",\"#95b390\",\"#7b9876\",\"#627e5e\",\"#334d31\",\"#122b12\",\"#072109\",\"#001502\"],\"n1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f2\",\"#e9e1d8\",\"#ccc5bd\",\"#b1aaa2\",\"#969088\",\"#7c766f\",\"#4a4640\",\"#292520\",\"#1e1b16\",\"#13110c\"],\"n2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f2\",\"#ede1cf\",\"#d0c5b4\",\"#b4aa99\",\"#998f80\",\"#7f7667\",\"#4d4639\",\"#2b2519\",\"#201b10\",\"#151006\"],\"error\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad6\",\"#ffb4ab\",\"#ff897d\",\"#ff5449\",\"#de3730\",\"#93000a\",\"#540003\",\"#410002\",\"#2d0001\"]}}","authors":"[{\"role\":\"Words by\",\"related\":[{\"postType\":\"collaborator\",\"postTypeLabel\":\"Contributor\",\"title\":\"Claudia van den Berg Morelli\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/collaboratore\/claudia-van-den-berg-morelli\/\",\"ID\":144596,\"value\":144596,\"label\":\"Claudia van den Berg Morelli\",\"thumbnail\":false}],\"title\":\"\",\"unique_id\":\"MTIwODQzMDc2MDQ3MTQ4MTgw\"},{\"role\":\"Courtesy Photo\",\"related\":\"\",\"title\":\"\",\"unique_id\":\"NDEyMDU0NDg0NjY2MjU0NjA=\"}]","magazine_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1615],"tags":[2165,2166,2167,2168,2169],"location":[1804,1817],"class_list":["post-171448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mini-story","tag-sake-3","tag-japanese-drinks","tag-drink-culture","tag-fermentation","tag-food-and-tradition","location-world","location-japan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171448"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171487,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171448\/revisions\/171487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171448"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=171448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}