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WSET Level 3 Sake > Sake Rice Cultivation > Flashcards

Sake Rice Cultivation Flashcards

Understanding Sake: Explaining Style & Quality Chapter 7

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1
Q

Is rice an annual or perennial crop?

A

Annual.

Planted each spring from last year’s seed, harvested in autumn

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2
Q

What is the botanical name of rice?

A

Oryzae sativa

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3
Q

What are the two main types of Asian rice?

A

Indica - long grain rice

Japonica - short grain rice

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4
Q

What is the Japanese term for sake-specific rice?

A

Shuzō kōteki mai

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5
Q

What is shuzō kōteki mai?

A

Sake specific rice

Oryzae sativa ssp. japonica - non-sticky

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6
Q

What are the characteristics of sake-specific rice?

Five characteristics

A
  • low protein content
  • well defined shinpaku that is flat and disc-shaped
  • large grains (25-30g/ per 1000 grains)
  • resistant to cracking when polished
  • good water absorbency and is broken down easily by enzymes
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7
Q

Why is low protein content an important character of sake specific rice?

A

Less amino acids and peptides

Peptides are chains of amino acids that are shorter than proteins

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8
Q

Why is having large grains and being resistant to cracking an important character of sake specific rice?

A

This ensures that small amounts of undesirable components can be completely removed during the polishing process.

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9
Q

Why is good water absorbency an important character of sake specific rice?

A

This ensures that water penetrates deep into the grain during washing, soaking and steaming. This allows the grain to break up more easily during fermentation, allowing starch to dissolve into the liquid.

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10
Q

How many sake-specific rice varieties were registered in Japan in 2015?

A

Just over 100

Nearly half of these were registered since 2000 and several are added each year

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11
Q

What are the three most popular sake-specific rice varieties?

A

Yamada-nishiki
Gohyakuman-goku
Miyama-nishiki

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12
Q

Which two rice varieties make up over half of all sake-specific rice production?

A

Yamada-nishiki

Gohyakuman-goku

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13
Q

What is the fourth most planted sake-specific rice variety

A

Dewa-sansan (registered 1997)

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14
Q

Is it common for a brewer to grow their own rice?

A

No
It’s very unusual, but the market is moving towards the integration of growing and brewing.

It was illegal in the second half of the twentieth century for a brewer to grow his own rice.

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15
Q

It is common for brewers to purchase rice (and take out loans for rice) through which organisational body?

A

Prefectural Brewing Associations

The Prefectural Brewing Associations source rice from the Agricultural Cooperative Associations, who source it from growers

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16
Q

Why is yamada-nishiki a popular variety of sake-specific rice?

A
  • exceptionally large grains
  • large well-defined shinpaku
  • can be polished down to extremely low ratios
  • great depth of flavour and texture with light intensity to allow yeast to express itself
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17
Q

Where is most yamada-nishiki grown?

A

Hyōgo prefecture (80%)

Also grown in the south west of Japan

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18
Q

What percentage of total sake-specific rice production is made up of yamada-nishiki?

A

Approximately 30%

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19
Q

What are the characteristics of sake produced from yamada-nishiki?

A
  • great depth of flavour
  • generous, soft, full texture
  • purity and precision
  • light in aromatic intensity, allows yeast to shine
  • can be polished to very low ratios so well suited to ginjō and daiginjō
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20
Q

Why is gohyakuman-goku a popular variety of sake-specific rice?

A
  • smaller grains than yamada-nishiki but behaves well when polished
  • especially good for making kōji
  • very light aromas and textures
  • especially suited to Niigata style sake (light, simple, delicate, dry with a kire finish)
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21
Q

Where is most gohyakuman-goku grown?

A

Niigata and neighbouring prefectires

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22
Q

What percentage of total sake-specific rice production is made up of gohyakuman-goku?

A

Approximately 25%

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23
Q

Why is miyama-nishiki a popular variety of sake-specific rice?

A
  • well adapted to cool mountainous growing areas
  • grains are a similar style to gohyakuman-goku
  • rich and robust sake with grippy texture
  • restrained aromas
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24
Q

Where is most miyama-nishiki grown?

A

Nagano prefecture

Also grown in Tōhoku in the mountainous north east.

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25
Q

What percentage of total sake-specific rice production is made up of miyama-nishiki?

A

Approximately 10%

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26
Q

Why is dewa-sansan a popular variety of sake-specific rice?

A
  • purity and depth of flavour
  • subtle herbal element
  • speciality of Yamagata prefecture
27
Q

What are the characteristics of sake produced from miyama-nishiki?

A
  • rich and robust
  • grip and grainy texture
  • sweeter
  • restrained aromas
28
Q

What are the characteristics of sake produced from dewa-sansan?

A
  • purity and depth of flavour
  • subtle herbal element
  • speciality of Yamagata prefecture
29
Q

What percentage of total sake-specific rice production is made up of dewa-sansan?

A

Approximately 2%

30
Q

Where is most dewa-sansan grown?

A

Yamagata prefecture

Almost none is grown outside this prefecture

31
Q

What is Dewa33?

A

A brand that can be used if the following are met:

  • produced in Yamagata
  • must be junmai ginjō
  • must be made from local rice, water, yeast and kōji
  • must pass a strict tasting test
32
Q

Which brand can be used if the following are met:

  • produced in Yamagata
  • must be junmai ginjō
  • must be made from local rice, water, yeast and kōji
  • must pass a strict tasting test
A

Dewa33

33
Q

Where is most omachi grown?

A

Okayama prefecture

Also in Hiroshima prefecture

34
Q

What are the characteristics of sake produced from omachi?

A
  • rich textured
  • earthy and spicy
  • high umami
  • less purity than other leading varieties
  • often delicious served warm
35
Q

Why is omachi a popular variety of sake-specific rice?

A
  • very large grains
  • soft textured shinpaku that is fat rather than disc shaped (difficult to polish)
  • rich textured, earthy and spicy
  • high umami
36
Q

What is difficult about omachi rice?

A

The shinpaku is fat rather than disc-like and has a soft texture. This makes omachi difficult to polish.
Despite this, omachi is used for many ginjō and daiginjō sakes

37
Q

What percentage of total sake-specific rice production is made up of omachi?

A

Approximately 2%

38
Q

When was omachi registered as a sake-specific rice variety?

A

1866

This makes it one of the oldest sake varieties

39
Q

Which two sake-specific varieties have the largest grains?

A

Yamada-nishiki

Omachi

40
Q

Is fertiliser used in large quantities for sake rice production? Why/why not?

A

No.
Rice growers need sake-specific rice to grow fully with large shinpaku and this takes time. Large amounts of fertiliser (as used for table rice) would cause the accumulation of more flavour/protein/lipids/vitamins/minerals which would make the resulting sake coarse.

41
Q

Which area of Japan can produce two crops of rice per year? Why?

A

Okinawa

Long enough and hot enough growing season

42
Q

When do rice growers transplant seedlings into the field?

A

Late April to mid June (Spring)

43
Q

When do rice growers see the first appearance of ears of rice grain?

A

August to early September (Summer)

44
Q

When is the rice harvested, dried and husks removed?

A

Late September to October

45
Q

Do most growers grow their rice from seeds?

A

No

Typically they buy seedlings ready for transplanting

46
Q

What is the endosperm of the rice?

A

The white layers below the bran and which surround the shinpaku.
Very high in starch
The outer layers contain proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals that are often polished away (although sake specific rice contains less of these than table rice)

47
Q

What is the germ of the rice?

A

The part of the grain that will grow into a new rice plant. The germ is removed during polishing.

48
Q

List the layers of an unpolished rice grain.

A 
Husk
Bran
Germ
Endosperm
Shinpaku
49
Q

What is the best soil for rice growing?

A
  • high percentage of clay to hold water
  • rich in nutrients (especially nitrogen)
  • ‘gluey substances’ deposited by plants and small animals
  • free of volcanic ash
  • deep enough soil so that roots don’t hit bedrock
50
Q

What are the stages of the rice growing year?

A
  • Growing seedlings from seeds (March-May)
  • Transplant into the rice paddy (late April - mid June)
  • Draining and reflooding the paddy (late June - late September)
  • Appearance of the ears (August - early September)
  • Ripening (late September - October)
  • Harvesting (late September - October)
  • Drying and removing husks (late September - October)
51
Q

Why are rice paddies drained and reflooded during the growing season?

A
  • If the paddy remains flooded, submerged vegetation produces poisonous gases as it rots which disrupt healthy growth of the rice plants
  • Drying the field gives the vegetation access to oxygen, which decomposes to provide nutrients to the plants
  • Drier periods encourage the plant to minimise vertical growth and produce larger grains
  • Drier periods encourage the plant to create stronger root systems to support themselves as the grain ripens
52
Q

How long to the rice flowers bloom for before pollination?

A

Two hours!

53
Q

How can the potential quality and ripeness of a rice crop be assessed?

A
  • the colour of the ears of grain (glossy golden not green)
  • the number of leaves left on the plant (three is ideal)
  • the number of stems with an ear of rice (15-20 ears per plant, each ear contains about 90 rice grains)
  • a strong and deep root system
54
Q

What do rice farmers do to the paddies before transplanting seedlings?

A
  • Break up the soil and mix with water. The resulting sludge allows the paddy to be flooded. (The water will slowly drain away through the season and the paddies refilled via irrigation channels.)
  • Topping up nutrient levels by the addition of fertiliser
55
Q

Which two nutrients are important for the formation of large shinpaku?

A

Nitrogen

Calcium

56
Q

Why is very little sake-specific rice grown organically?

A

Sake-specific rice demands so much nitrogen that synthetic nitrogen-rich fertiliser is almost always used.

57
Q

When is fertiliser added to the paddy?

A
  • When the seeds are sown
  • When the seedlings are planted out1
  • When the plant grows rapidly before the ears of rice appear.
58
Q

What are some threats to rice growing?

A
  • Wind at flowering and fertilisation
  • Wind/typhoon late in the season which can damage plants
  • Cool temperatures during ripening (leads to glutinous grains)
  • Hot temperatures during ripening (leads to more protein and higher risk of cracking)
59
Q

What are the five grades of rice?

A
  • Above Special (toku-jo, only used for sake rice)
  • Special (toku, only used for sake rice)
  • First Grade (used for sake and table rice)
  • Second Grade (used for sake and table rice)
  • Third Grade (used for sake and table rice)

There are grades below Third Grade but they cannot be used for premium sake production

60
Q

What are the two criteria on which rice is graded?

A
  • moisture content

- percentage of broken/cracked/underripe grains

61
Q

Why is moisture content of a rice grain an important criteria for grading?

A

Too little moisture and there is a risk of cracking during polishing.
Too much moisture and there is risk of rot.

62
Q

Is grain size a criteria used to grade rice?

A

No.

Although it is important (larger is better), grain size is not a criteria for quality grading.

63
Q

True or false:

Yamada-nishiki more expensive than other types of standard sake-specific rice.

A

True.

The best yamada-nishiki can cost more than three times as much as standard sake-specific rice.

64
Q

What are the ideal conditions for growing sake-specific rice?

A 
Warm and sunny days (20-25°C)
Cool nights (10.5-15.5°C - 9.5°C lower than daytime temperatures)

WSET Level 3 Sake (10 decks)

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