Andrea Martinisi Sake Tasting

Thank you to Andrea Martinisi for his detailed presentation on sake and paired with a menu executed by the Diploma students of the New Zealand School of Food and Wine and served by the hospitality students. This event was part of the New Zealand Sommeliers and Wine Professionals tasting programme, Travel by Glass.

Andrea presenting on koji and its important role in making Sake.

Andrea explains the different styles of sake.

Sake styles vary and there is no absolute truth. The styles are determined by the rice polishing levels and then the brewer can do whatever they want including fortification with brewers alcohol.

Hospitality student, Pia pours the sake.

Eggplant and mushroom with porcini mayo and oat-shitake chips.

Scallop and crisp prosciutto and bean puree.

We tried 4 syles of sake:

Honjozo: rice is polished to 70%, tastes of button mushroom, more full-bodied, fortified to 15%.
Futsu-Shu tastes of the mash. The fermentation is stopped at around 5% resulting in a lightly sparking sake. It is considered unfinished.
Nigori has a milky, opaque colour sake
Junmai Daiginjo is considered the premium classification with a rice polishing ratio of 50%; not fortified and can have a variety of alcohol levels around 16%. It is fresh and light in style.