Savor The "Drink Of The Gods"

Instead of a California cab or chardonnay, how about shaking things up this year with a gift of what the Japanese call "the drink of the gods?" Premium rice wine, or sake, is enjoying a boom in the U.S. at fine wine shops and dining hot spots -- not all of them Asian. High-quality sakes increasingly are available for up to $60 for a standard 720-ml bottle. If that sounds pricey, consider that sakes brewed in Japan with special strains of rice and pure spring water are every bit the equal of Napa Valley's fancy nectars. "You get what you pay for," says Kamakura (Japan)-based sake expert John Gauntner. "Cheap sake is an industrial product, and expensive sake is made by hand."

Part of what makes sake appealing to Americans is its undeniable Asian mystique. But that can also make enjoying it something of a challenge for those new to the drink. For starters, sake comes in varying degrees of dryness and sweetness. Drier and lighter varieties are increasingly popular, but sweet and full-bodied sake also has a large following. Most breweries adhere to a numerical system where sweeter sakes are marked with a "minus" number and drier ones carry a "plus." For example, a very sweet sake would be "-5," while only the driest varieties merit a "+10."