The Refinement of Sake in the Spotlight: An Exceptional Masterclass with the Cambodia Sommelier Association at Topaz

In the elegant setting of Phnom Penh’s Topaz restaurant, the Cambodia Sommelier Association recently celebrated the ancestral art of Japanese sake through an exceptional masterclass. This rare event, rich in sensory and cultural discoveries, allowed wine professionals and enlightened enthusiasts to immerse themselves in a world where tradition, precision, and emotion meet in a single glass.

Organized in collaboration with the Japanese Sake and Shochu Makers Association, the session was led by Mr. Sean Ou, the association’s representative for the ASEAN region. With his clear teaching and infectious enthusiasm, he revealed the full complexity of sake—this mysterious elixir too often, and wrongly, reduced to a simple “rice wine.”

The Alchemy of Rice, Water, and Time

Sake is a work of patience and precision. Its creation depends on a delicate balance between the quality of the rice, the purity of the water, the type of yeast, and the mastery of koji—the noble fungus that transforms starch into sugar. The masterclass revisited essential concepts such as the rice polishing ratio—a true measure of refinement—and the slow fermentation processes that produce the different categories of sake, from junmai to ginjo and up to daiginjo, the ultimate symbol of elegance and precision.

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