Wine stemware was conspicuously absent at AKA Bistro’s sake and French cuisine dinner. On the table in front of me, next to a flask-like tokkuuri, were wood box masu, some kiki choko beaming their bottom-of-the-cup targets, and a flat ceremonial sakazuki drinking vessel. Of course, I would know little about any of this crystal-trumping nomenclature without the help of […]
Sake And Wine Enthusiasm
There is new learning about my own progression along Darwin’s evolutionary scale which evidently, to some degree, has been propelled by crossing a few of the introductory borders into the world of fine sake. First century poet Otomo Tabito made an early case for sake’s role in human evolution when he wrote: O what an […]
Connecting Intellectual and Palate Learning: Tasting Two Sakes and California Cabernet
An insatiable hunger for discovery and wine education is rewarded every time I taste wines in peer groups. Without the chance to examine lots of wines every day over an extended period, even frequent tastings of one wine per sitting lays down hurdles to thorough assessment most easily cleared via contextual, side-by-side tastings. The most […]
Sake Mastery, Prosecco Fun, and Independence Day
Saké and Prosecco occupy my brain’s vinous lobe on this independence day, shoving aside thoughts of domestic barbecue reds, rosés, and celebratory sparklers as swiftly and completely as South Africa’s American-less pitches vacated our nation’s collective mindset. Last year at this time, I added a caveat to Alder Yarrow’s thoughts of wine independence with a serious look […]