Japan – Sake grades

 As with many wine regions that label wine according to a quality scale, there is also a system for rating the quality of sake. The first level of sake is called Junmai, which means good quality. From there, you move on to Junmai Ginjo (high quality) and Junmai Daiginjo (premium quality). Cheaper sake that has had distilled alcohol added are non-Junmai but also have a scale to grade quality. These grades relate to the amount of polishing the rice has had to create better quality sake. The lowest grade of non-Junmai sake is Futsu, which has no minimum polishing level and is often high in added distilled spirit. Futsu is also about 75% of the entire sake market.

Other terms that can be found on a bottle of sake:

• Namazake (unpasteurized)
• Nigori (cloudy from being unfiltered)
• Taruzake (aged in cedar wood barrels)
• Muroka (unfiltered)
• Genshu (undiluted sake)