Sato

Rice wine is a generic term for an alcoholic beverage fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during which microbes enzymatically convert its starches to sugar. Sake in Japan, Mijiu in China, and Cheongju and Makgeolli in Korea are some of the most notable types of rice wine. Rice wine typically has an alcohol content of 10–25% ABV, and is typically served warm. One panel of taste testers arrived at 60 °C as an optimum serving temperature. Rice wines are used in East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cuisine at formal dinners and banquets and in cooking. The production of rice wine has thousands of years of history. In ancient China, rice wine was the primary alcoholic drink. The first known fermented beverage in the world was a wine made from rice and honey about 9,000 years ago in central China. In the Shang Dynasty (1750-1100 BCE), funerary objects routinely featured wine vessels. The production of rice wine in Japan is believed to have started around third century BCE, after the introduction of wet rice cultivation.

Source: Wikipedia