Official Class Description from West London Wine School Website:

Looking for something different to enhance your cheeseboard? Why not pair with sake instead of wine!

Join us at West London Wine School for an evening introduction to sake and artisanal cheese pairing. Matching sake with cheese is actually much easier than wine, thanks to the power of umami (savouriness, the “fifth taste”), fermentation (both cheese and sake are naturally fermented products!) and lactic acid (the main acid in both sake and cheese).

We will share some simple tips and tricks to wow your guests and amaze their tastebuds, while introducing you to some more unusual styles of sake including yamahai and bodaimoto that feature oodles of umami and lactic acid thanks to their historic artisanal production methods. We will also sample a rare red sake made from red rice, and a sake made to a historic recipe from 1703!

Our sake tutor Sarah will cover the basics of sake and cheese production, styles and information on each producer along with general food and sake pairing principles, and you’ll pick up lots of  useful information to take away to help you choose the perfect sake and food accompaniment. This evening also makes the perfect gift for the foodie in your life!

On the evening we will try six different cheeses across a range of styles (white mould, washed rind, blue, Alpine, hard etc), and six sake:

Yamatogawa Shuzo Brewery (Fukushima Prefecture) – Waning Moon Junmai

Tsuji Honten Brewery (Okayama Prefecture)- 1859 New Mountain Junmai Bodaimoto Omachi

Hayashi Honten Brewery (Gifu Prefecture) - Hyakujyuro Jidai Yamahai Junmai Ginjo

Ota Shuzo Brewery (Shiga Prefecture) – Kokoro Junmai Nama Genshu

Mukai Shuzo Brewery (Kyoto Prefecture)– Ine Mankai red sake, make from red rice

Konishi Shuzo Brewery (Hyogo Prefecture) - Genroku Redux, made using a recipe from 1703

West London Wine School received the prestigious WSET Educator of the Year Award in 2018 for the top wine education provider globally – it has won numerous awards for the quality of its teaching and has an average review of 5 stars (highest possible score) on Trip Advisor.