Shhhh, don't tell anybody, but there is a secret brewing in Folsom. The Gekkeikan (pronounced gay-kay-kan) Sake Company has been brewing sake in our own backyard since the early 1990s.

Now you may be thinking, "This is a column on wine, and since sake is made from a grain, that would make it technically a beer. What's going on?"

Yes, sake is made from rice, and even though Budweiser is primarily made from rice as well, sake has more in common with our favorite grape extract than the King of Beers.

Gekkeikan is located at 1136 Sibley St., with their brewery resting behind a traditional Japanese style building that houses offices and a gift shop. The bridge that crosses the koi pond moat leads to a company steeped in Japanese tradition that dates back thousands of years.

The Gekkeikan brewery in Japan began in Fushimi (near Kyoto) in 1637 and has taken many steps over the years to modernize the production of sake. To expand their sake market, the company decided to establish a production facility in the United States. They chose to brew here, instead of exporting the Japanese sake, to ensure the freshest taste possible.

Folsom was chosen because the water that runs off the Sierra Nevada snow pack is very close in mineral content to the water in Fushimi. In addition, the Sacramento area has an enormous agricultural production of rice. The right water and high quality rice make for superior sake.

For those interested in how sake is produced, the company has a U.S. Web site as well as the Japanese Web site - both have great details on how sake is brewed as well as tips on how to enjoy sake.

As many are unfamiliar with sake, here are a few facts that should peak your interest, and maybe prompt you to toss back a tokkuri or two for yourself.

n Sake is all-natural. The only ingredients in sake are water, rice and yeast. One step in the production of sake is to create something called koji rice - koji is a type of mold spore that helps break down the starch in rice, to aid in the fermentation process. Unlike wine, there are no sulfites or other preservatives added.

n Sake is brewed, not distilled. Sake is not a spirit, even though it is crystal clear and may look distilled. It usually has an alcohol range in the wine neighborhood (13 to 16 percent).

n You can drink sake at whatever temperature you darn well please. Hot, warm, chilled or even over ice; no one at the sushi bar will cringe and gasp if you order your sake ice cold.

Sake has a very distinctive flavor, and comes in several styles and levels of quality.

Modern filtration gives us the clear sake that we know today, but such was not the case in years past. The roughly filtered style, or Nigori sake, still contains some rice and yeast. The appearance is milky and it has a much stronger flavor than other sake styles.

The level of quality of sake is related to how much of the outer portion of the rice kernel is polished off. Brown rice is the raw state (100 percent of kernel size) and the smaller the polished kernel, the fewer impurities will end up in the final product. The quality designations to look for are Ginjo and Dai Ginjo.

Ginjo sake is made from rice that is polished to at least 50 percent of the original rice kernel size. It is premium sake carefully fermented to create a refreshingly fruity aroma and mild flavor. Ginjo is high-end sake that is better quality than the draft style, which is more of an every day drink in Japan.

The Dai-Ginjo is made from rice polished at least 60 percent, which leaves practically no impurities at all. According to Gekkeikan, this is ultra-premium sake slowly fermented at low temperatures with a delicate aroma and mild flavor.

Gekkeikan's Horin is a wonderful example of this style of sake. It is the top shelf sake with the Dai-Ginjo designation controlled by Japan's National Brewer's Association.

For those who like the new and interesting, Gekkeikan also offers Zipang, a low-alcohol sparkling sake that is naturally carbonated.

The Folsom Gekkeikan facility is open for self-guided tours 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Guided tours for groups of eight or more are available by appointment.

The Gekkeikan tasting room offers complimentary tasting of Kobai, their latest plum wine, as well as a variety of locally produced sakes. They also offer a number of unique snack and gift items for sale, such as sake sets, Japanese dishes, dolls and sushi-making accessories.

The tasting room provides recipes on how to cook with sake as well as cocktail recipes which include Saketinis, Sake Collins and Sakerita.

Gekkeikan offers bottle sizes ranging from 187 ml (single serving) to standard 750 ml bottles to their 1.8 liter sake barrel for those large get-togethers.

Sake is also surprisingly affordable; you can pick up a bottle of the Horin Dai-Ginjo for a mere 1176 Yen (about $10).

For more information, call 985-3111 or visit www.gekkeikan-sake.com.