Los Angeles Sake Festival kicks off Saturday night

Marla Schevker

Yujji Matsumoto, certified master sake sommelier and the beverage manager for Kabuki restaurants, poses with his sake bottles.

Raise a glass and say "kampai!" Saturday night at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. It's the L.A. Sake Festival.

Promoters of the festival say the event will bring a Las Vegas Vibe to the region's largest sake tasting. It's an opportunity to sample more than 100 brands of sake and then sing karaoke.

Yuji Matsumoto is the beverage manager for Kabuki restaurants. He'll be there leading a sake tasting seminar at the festival. He dropped by KPCC's studios for a preview sake tasting. The brands he brought were Nanbu-Bijin, Mizbasho and Kurosawa. All three were delicious!

Matsumoto is starting a movement to taste sake in white wine glasses instead of the traditional ceramic cups. He says this provides a better opportunity to truly appreciate a sake's fragrance and taste.

He also claims that sake is good for you! Sure, you might get a bit drunk, but sake's anti-oxidants, he insists, are good for the skin.

Matsumoto has also created a special sake "map" which helps novice drinkers determine which type of sake to pair with different foods.