Japan brings a sake masterclass to São Paulo to win space on Latin American wine lists.

A sake masterclass for young sommeliers from several Latin American countries was held in São Paulo as part of this year’s ASI Boot Camp, in a sign of how Japan’s sake industry is trying to expand the drink’s place on restaurant wine lists across the region.

The session was organized through a partnership between the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, or JSS, and the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, or ASI. In a statement released Thursday, JSS said this is the fourth year of its partnership with ASI and that sake education has been included in the group’s training programs each year.

The class in São Paulo was aimed at younger sommeliers who are expected to influence beverage programs in restaurants in the coming years. JSS said the goal was not only to introduce sake to the participants, but also to address what it described as persistent misunderstandings about the category in parts of South America.

The masterclass was led by Fábio Ota, who runs a sake import business centered in São Paulo. According to the statement, Ota told participants that some of what many sommeliers believe they know about sake is either outdated or incorrect. One of the main misconceptions he identified was the belief that sake is a distilled spirit. Sake is brewed, not distilled, and is made from rice, water, koji mold, and yeast.

Ota also challenged a common assumption that the quality of sake can be judged mainly by how much the rice has been polished. In the trade, terms such as daiginjo and junmai daiginjo are often treated by consumers and even some professionals as automatic signals of the highest quality. Ota argued that the issue is more complex and that style, structure, production method, and how a sake works with food also matter.

That focus on education appears to be central to JSS’s strategy in Latin America, where the sake market remains small but is growing quickly. The association said exports to Latin America in the first half of 2026 rose 20% from a year earlier in volume and 38% in value. Over the same period, global sake exports fell 1% in volume to 1.83 million 9-liter cases, while export value rose 4% to ¥23.8 billion.

Even with that growth, Latin America is still a small share of the export business. Customs clearance figures cited by JSS show the region accounted for 2% of total export volume and 1% of total export value from January through June of this year.

The São Paulo program also highlighted large differences in how sake is understood and distributed across Latin America. JSS said discussions with participants showed that some countries still have very limited access to sake, while others have stronger awareness because of local food culture and existing ties to Japanese cuisine.

In Uruguay, according to the association, sake distribution remains limited and many consumers are still unfamiliar with the category itself. In Peru, the statement said, knowledge of sake tends to be broader, helped in part by the country’s Nikkei culinary tradition, which blends Japanese and Peruvian influences. Even there, JSS said, the range of styles available on the market is still narrow compared with what participants were shown at the boot camp.

The association used the São Paulo event to argue that sake is beginning to move beyond its long-standing role as a drink served mainly in Japanese restaurants. It pointed to Brazil as an example. JSS said that in April, Tuju and Evvai became the first restaurants in Brazil and Latin America to receive Michelin three stars, and that both include sake on their menus. The association presented that as evidence that sake can find a place in high-end dining outside strictly Japanese settings.

Julio Kunz, vice president of the Associação Brasileira de Sommeliers in Rio Grande do Sul, said in the statement that the class changed the way he sees the category. JSS said Kunz viewed the tasting of five distinct sake styles through the same analytical framework used for wine, and that many participants saw sake for the first time as a serious category worthy of study rather than as a novelty.

Kunz also said, according to the statement, that sake’s relatively low alcohol content and strong potential for food pairing fit current consumer preferences in Brazil. He described the category as having broad room for growth if education continues and if more professionals learn to present it with the same depth and confidence they use for wine.

That view reflects a wider effort by Japanese producers and exporters to frame sake not only as a traditional national beverage, but also as a product that can compete for space on international beverage menus. The emphasis on younger sommeliers is especially important because those professionals often shape what guests see on wine lists, pairing menus, and tasting formats in both fine dining and more casual restaurants.

JSS said it plans to keep using its partnership with ASI to expand sake education in Latin America, not only in Brazil but in other cities where the category is still less established. The association said it wants to create conditions in which sake is available in non-Japanese restaurants as well, by helping train sommeliers who will make future decisions about restaurant beverage programs.