Rihaku Wandering Poet: Named After a Poet Who Drank Before Writing

Most sake breweries are named after a place, a family, or a mountain. This one is named after a person who has been dead for over twelve hundred years.

Li Bai

Rihaku is the Japanese reading of Li Bai, the Tang dynasty poet who lived from 701 to 762 and is generally counted among the greatest writers in Chinese history.

He is also, unavoidably, the most famous drinker in Chinese literature. Wine appears constantly in his work, he wrote openly about drinking before composing, and the popular image of him is a wandering figure moving between places with a cup nearby. That reputation is why a sake brewery took his name.

The brewery is Rihaku Shuzo, founded in 1882 in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan side of western Honshu.

What Is in the Bottle

Yamada Nishiki rice, polished to 55%, brewed slowly at low temperature using traditional methods. It is 15.2% ABV.

Two things are worth pulling out of that.

Yamada Nishiki is the most highly regarded sake rice in Japan, usually called the king of sake rice. It has a large, clean starch core and it dissolves well during brewing, but the plant grows tall, falls over easily in wind, and is difficult and expensive to farm. Using it in a junmai ginjo rather than saving it for a daiginjo is a decision about where the brewery puts its money.

Polished to 55% is five points past the 60% ginjo requirement. Not enough to claim daiginjo, which starts at 50%, but more milling than the category demands.

Together those mean this is a bottle punching above where it sits on a list.

What Junmai Ginjo Should Taste Like

This is a useful reference bottle, because it does exactly what the category is supposed to do.

Banana and very ripe honeydew on the nose. A well-rounded palate with clean, crisp acidity, light to medium bodied, and a clean finish. Solid in flavor and fragrance without being showy about either.

If you want to understand what junmai ginjo means as a style rather than as a legal definition, this is a good place to calibrate.

How to Drink It

Chilled, around 7 to 10 degrees Celsius, in a sake glass or a white wine glass.

Not warmed. The aroma is the reason to buy this bottle and heat drives it off.

Pair It With

Sashimi, cucumber sunomono, light tempura. The acidity handles delicate food without overrunning it, which is what the brewery aims for.

Try It at Juraku

Rihaku Wandering Poet is on the sake list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side. Check the current menu or ask us what is open.