Sake Glossary

These sakés are very special; in their production, part of the water to be added in the production process is replaced by already made saké (generally, 50% of the actual volume of water).

Two different production processes to initiate the fermentation using traditional methods for the yeast starter where the lactic acid is naturally formed (in contrast to the current modern, so-called “quick method” whereby the lactic acid is added to save time) and which require an additional 15 days (in the case of the Yamahai method, the yeast starter is left alone and without any blend or mix, allowing for the generation of even richer and marked or pronounced flavors).

Rice, steamed beforehand, inoculated by “Kōji-kin” mold (a fungus from the Eurotiomycetes class called “Aspergillus oryzae” in Latin). The resulting Kōji rice is used as a source of enzymes in order to trigger, among other things, the transformation of the starch into various types of sugars (saccharification). Its preparation is one of the most difficult stages and key stages in the production process.

Matured sakés that gone through maturation for at least 3 years (in casks or in bottles or in both).

Saké production house (from the Japanese kanji character “saka” for saké and the kanji character “kura” for cellar or warehousing or store, and by extension the place where Saké is being produced).

More specifically called Sakagura.

Sake producer and owner of a Sakagura.