A Practical Guide to Sake, Part 3: Wine vs. Sake
Because wine and sake are more similar than you think. Our practical guide continues: today we compare the two beverages, again with Gianluca Di Giulio of Kodama Enoteca.
Wine and sake: two seemingly distant beverages, yet closer than you might think. Both are created through fermentation, but their journey to the glass is very different and a bit surprising, if you stop and think about it.
Differences between sake and wine: fermentation and raw materials
Wine is made from fruit, which already contains sugars, water, and the nutrients needed for fermentation. In practice, nature does much of the work, and even without human intervention, the transformation can almost happen automatically. Sake, on the other hand, is made from rice: a grain that doesn't ferment easily on its own. Here, human intervention becomes essential, even in the most purist and delicate techniques. It's this difference that makes sake unique, and often surprises those who try it for the first time.
Considering its consumption in Japan, we can trivially compare it to wine in Italy, but sake doesn't have a consolidated communication channel. A basic understanding is required, but not having overly "institutional" rules allows you to find the right way to communicate it to people. "Unlike wine, which is more material and earthy, sake is ethereal, belonging to the hyperuranion of sensations, and this makes it fascinating, evocative, and also open to much broader interpretations: you describe it with few words, few scents, but it hides much deeper things that it evokes," explains Gianluca Di Giulio.
Tradition and territory: what sake and wine have in common
So how are they similar? The answer lies not in chemical processes, but in what these beverages represent: tradition, culture, and territory. The concept of terroir might seem absurd when applied to sake, but a little attention is enough to understand that over 80% of sake is water. And water, as is often the case, never lies: it speaks to the terroir, the minerals, the climate, and influences the final flavor of the beverage in a clear and recognizable way.
Sake and wine at the table: pairings and gastronomic culture
Not only that: in many Japanese prefectures, sake is thought of in connection with local cuisine. It thus becomes an ambassador of place and tradition: from soups to fish or meat dishes, every sip can tell a story of the region. In this sense, sake and wine share a similar destiny: they are not just beverages to be drunk, but tools for learning about stories, cultures, and people.
