Is sake a rice wine?
Rice wine is a collective term for different alcoholic beverages that are made on the basis of rice and come from different Asian countries. The collective term rice wine is, however, not very precise and also not entirely correct. The term wine can actually only be used for wine made from grapes. In addition, the term rice wine also includes distilled drinks, which should actually be called rice schnapps
Is sake rice wine or rice beer?
Sake falls under the collective term mentioned above and can be described as Japanese rice wine. But making sake is very different from making a wine. The production (-> link to sake production) is more reminiscent of beer, which is why one could also speak of rice beer. Sake is made like beer and drunk like wine. It's best to stick with the term sake.
Japanese sake
The term Japanese sake is protected. According to the geographical indication (GI) Japanese Sake / Nihonshu, only sake that is brewed in Japan from Japanese rice and Japanese water can be designated as Japanese sake. UENO GOURMET only has Japanese sake in its portfolio.