To lure wine lovers, sake makers learn it's all about rice

Brewers look to Bordeaux-like appellation for Japan sake

Brewery executive Kosuke Kuji brought his best sake to a New York booze showcase 16 years ago hoping to promote high-end Japanese rice wine to a new generation of sophisticated foreign drinkers. They were a little disappointed.

It wasn’t that sake from his Nanbu-Bijin brewery failed to live up to its rating back home as Junmai-Daiginjo, the name given to premium grade vintages. But for aficionados of traditional grape-based wines, the local appellation that produces the main ingredient can be almost as important as the final product — think Napa Valley in California, Bordeaux in France, or Chianti in Italy.