The Stone Bridge Podcast

Jim Rion on Discovering Yamaguchi Sake

Episode Summary

Sake expert Jim Rion, author of the new book "Discovering Yamaguchi Sake," talks about local Yamaguchi brews as well as some sake basics and insight into brewing and ingredients.

Episode Notes

Sake expert Jim Rion, author of the new book Discovering Yamaguchi Sake, talks about local Yamaguchi brews  as well as some sake basics and insight into brewing and ingredients.

Topics include:

• How did Jim end up  in Yamaguchi and how did he get interested in sake?
• Does "terroir" exist in sake?
• What makes Yamaguchi sake distinctive?
• What do the Yamaguchi sake breweries have in common and what kind of people become brewers today?
• How  is sake marketed today and what is the impact of social media?
• How did you go about gathering information from the 23 breweries for the book and writing about their history?
• If someone is going to visit Yamaguchi, what are some tips for sake tasting there, and what are some other places to visit in between the brewery tours? (Hint: one of the best ways to taste local sake is to hit up an izakaya with a friend and work your way through their selection!)

Jim Rion's book Discovering Yamaguchi Sake: A Taster's Guide to Breweries, Culture & Terrain is available in print and ebook editions at bookstores around the world and online.

Jim Rion is a licensed international kikizakeshi (sake sommelier), certified sake professional, and freelance translator and writer working in the sake industry since 2018. He has lived in Yamaguchi Prefecture since 2004. 

Peter Goodman is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California, which for over thirty years has specialized in books on Asia, especially Japan and China. For a complete list of Stone Bridge Press books, visit www.stonebridge.com.