February 01, 2004
Sake in Translation
Finding a wine to match snapper isn't so hard - something bright, light and white fits the bill. But WD-50's snapper is more turf than surf, as it's coated with crushed juniper berries, a spice usually reserved for game, and perches on a throne of chestnut puree. Red wine would take the fish out of the dish; white wine doesn't feel right, so where to go from here? To sake, says sommelier Scott Mayger. Mayger keeps a constant supply of sake in his cellar, and he isn't the only one. The Japanese rice-based brew is showing up in restaurants all over the country, from downtown bôites to high-end French destinations, and for good reason. Though sake has had its share of false starts in the US, the bottles imported today are better than ever, and sommeliers are finding that sake can go where no wine dares to go - and plenty of places wine's welcome, too. I found after talking to dozens of restaurant people from coast to coast that there's excitement brewing around sake, the sort that astronomers might feel at the discovery of a new universe.
Read the rest of the article at Wine & Spirits magazine.