Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage, made from a series of fermentations using steamed rice. The process removes the millet and the protein from the rice, leaving the starch-similar to how beer is made from grain. Over time, the starch is converted to sugar naturally and a little yeast, called koji, is added in later stages of the fermentation, which acts to create alcohol out of the sugar. At the end of the process, the liquid is filtered to remove any millet or other particles. The resulting product is clear and about 15 percent alcohol. Sake has been made in Japan for over 6800 years.

Types of Sake
There are two kinds of sake: junmai (with no alcohol added) and honjozo (with alcohol added during the fermentation process). Over 80 percent of the sake made in Japan is honjozo sake. Within those broad classifications, there are different grades of sake:

• Futsu - economy sake
• Ginjo - premium sake
• Daiginjo - ultra-premium sake

How to Drink Sake
Futsu (ordinary) sake is warmed for drinking. (Ginjo and Daiginjo are served chilled.) Traditionally, sake is poured from a stoneware carafe, called a tokkuri (pictured above). Warm the sake in the tokkuri by placing it in a partially-filled pan of boiling water. (Don't overheat the sake; it should be warm-a little over body temperate, not hot.)

To serve the sake, pour it from the tokkuri into individual sake cups, called ochoko. It is proper sake etiquette to hold your cup while the sake is being poured. Inhale the sake's aroma gently before sipping. Sake is meant for sipping, not throwing back like a shot of whiskey.

Storing Sake
Sake does not improve with age, like fine wines or Scotch whiskey. Instead, buy sake with a recent bottling date. Once open, a bottle of sake should be kept in a cool, dark place (such as the refrigerator), as the liquid is sensitive to heat and light. A bottle, stored properly should last around a year.

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Ports vary in color, taste, and complexity based on the grapes used to produce them and the material used in the aging process. Among the most commonly found types of port are:

Tawny Port - Tawny port is made from red wine grapes, aged in wood. A reserve tawny is one that has been aged at least seven years. Tawny ports are usually light yellow in color and have a slightly "nutty" taste. Tawny ports made from a single vintage are called "colheitas" and indicate the vintage year on the bottle.

Ruby Port - Just as the name indicates, ruby ports are deep red in color. These are the least expensive ports and are made with red wine grapes and aged in stainless steel to preserve the color. Generally, ruby ports are aged from three to five years.

Vintage Port - The finest kind of port wine, vintage port comes from a single year's grape production. Not every year is declared a vintage year in Portugal and, as with fine Bordeaux or Burgundy wines, some years' growing conditions create a better product. Vintage ports are aged a maximum of 2 1/2 years before bottling.

LBV Port - LBV or "Late Bottle Vintage" ports were originally crafted to be vintage ports. However, due to lack of demand or other factors, they are left in the barrel longer than allowed for a vintage port. Generally, LBV ports are lighter in color and texture than the vintage cousins.

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I had the opportunity to taste the 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port this week. What a nice way to usher in spring in the Midwest. The single harvest port is a lovely, translucent red amber color and a leisurely sniff yields hints of plums and cherries. A taste confirms those notes with a little bit of oak and walnuts. It's a rich, well-balance wine, perhaps a little on the sweet side.

A neighbor of mine just started working in a cheese store and we paired the port with a creamy, truffle brie. The richness in the cheese was perfect and cut the sweetness in the port. Tawny port is also a classic accompaniment to creme brulee.

The wine purveyor suggested serving it slightly chilled in the summer (a Portuguese tradition), but I haven't tried that yet.

The 1994 Smith Woodhouse Colheita Tawny Port is available throughout the United States and Canada. Suggested retail is $46. Aged port wine will keep for four-six weeks once opened.

For more information on Smith Woodhouse port wines, visit their Web site.

^{(photo © 2008 S. Mitchell)}

Argentine wines are not as well-known in North America as those of Chile, but the areas just below the Andes Mountains, such as Mendoza and San Juan, produce excellent, red wines, including Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Malbec, a red wine grape that is at its best when grown in Argentine soil. Learn more about the wines of Argentina in this video from Geobeats.

Compassion and California wine-making skills have combined to create a home for 90 mentally disabled "students" of all ages and to craft some surprisingly good wine. Coco Farm, founded in the 1950s, has been making wine since the 1980s, using mentally-challenged students to tend the vines, harvest the grapes, and perform a range of responsibilities from labeling to scraring crows away from the vines. In 1989, the winery brought in Sonoma wine-maker, Bruce Gutlove and the quality of the wine has been improving. So much, in fact, that Coco Winery's sparkling wine, "Novo," was served at the recent G-7 Summit of world leaders.

Coco Farm and Winery is located about one hour north of Tokyo. Because of its small production-just 150,000 to 180,000 bottles annually-Coco wines are not available in the United States. However, the winery welcomes visitors and has a tasting room and cafe.

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What we commonly refer to as sulfites (actually sulfur dioxide) is natural by-product of the wine fermentation process. It's also an antioxident and antimicrobiodal. Some wineries add extra sulfur dioxide to their wines to help preserve them and many wineries use this compound in lieu of harsh chemical like bleach to clean their vats, lines, and other wine-making apperatus.

Sulfites have gotten a rather bad reputation because a small percentage of the population-around one percent-is allergic to this compound. For this reason, any US-produced wine with more than 10ppm must include the phrase "contains sulfites" on the label. This includes virtually all wines as the naturally-occuring amount of sulfites is around 10-20ppm. (The maximum allowable amount of sulfites in wine is 350ppm.)

Wines with the lowest about of sulfites are organic wines, followed by dry red and white wines. Dessert wines and wines with a high sugar content are higher on the sulfite spectrum.

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May is filled with wine festivals and other wine events as the weather warms around the United States. Here is just a sampling:

• San Luis Obispo, CA - May 1-4 - Roll out the Barrels
  
  
• Cleveland, OH - May 2-3 - Cleveland International Wine Show
  
  
• Orange Beach, AL - May 2-4 - Southern Breeze Wine & Culinary Festival
  
  
• Livermore, CA - May 3-4 - Downtown Livermore Wine Festival
  
  
• Charlotte, NC - Mary 7-10 - Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend
  
  
• Anderson Valley, CA - May 16-18 - Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival
  
  
• Paso Robles, CA - May 16-18 - Paso Robles Wine Festival
  
  
• Sonoma Valley, CA - May 17-18 - Passport to Sonoma Vally
  
  
• Keuka Wine Trail, NY - May 17-18 - Keuka in Bloom
  
  
• New Orleans, LA - May 21-25 - New Orleans Wine & Food Experience
  
  
• Newport Beach, CA - May 23-25 - Newport Beach Food & Wine Festival
  
  
• Banff Springs, Canada - May 31 - Banff Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival
  
  
• Santa Cruz Mtns, CA - May 31 - Santa Cruz Mtns Vintners Festival

^{(photo courtesy of the Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend)}