Gunma – pioneering terroir sake

‘If you want to understand sake, step back from wine’, was the first advice that wine writer Anthony Rose gave to a sake masterclass I attended in 2019. He explained that while we learn about, define and judge wine primarily though the triumvirate of variety, vintage and terroir, sake is the triumvirate of water, rice polishing and tōji (master brewer). We were instructed not to compare sake with wine, because sake should be viewed through the lens of style and grade...