Wut?
From Nikkei Asia, May 10:
Veteran champagne producer experiments to broaden the Japanese drink's global appeal
Each spring, when the snow that blankets the surrounding fields has melted and the chill in the air begins to soften, Richard Geoffroy, longtime chef de cave (head winemaker) of Dom Perignon, the prestige French champagne house, ensconces himself in a spacious, high-ceilinged room with wide views toward the village below.
Facing a long row of green bottles lined up along a wooden counter, Geoffroy spends hours inhaling their aromas, tasting and blending their contents. But Geoffroy is not in the Champagne region of France. He is in Toyama prefecture, northwestern Japan, where the former master blender of champagne is now making sake.
After 28 years as chef de cave at Dom Perignon, Geoffroy left the company in 2018 to launch a new mission: working with Japanese experts to create a completely different style of premium sake that can be enjoyed not only with Japanese food, but with a wide range of cuisines.
"We are on a mission to contribute to a global recognition of sake: versatile, universal, on a par with the greatest beverages on this planet," Geoffroy says, adding that while he has deep respect for traditional methods of making sake, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice, there is "latitude" for creativity. "There is room for experimentation," he says.
For centuries, almost all sake was consumed in Japan. Even though it has gained wider appreciation abroad in recent years, most sake is still consumed domestically, usually paired with Japanese food. Geoffroy believes it has the potential to move beyond that association and be enjoyed with a much wider variety of cuisines....
....MUCH, MUCH MORE, these people are serious.
