Wine connoisseurs get all the glory for having the ultimate refined taste, but they’ll be given a run for their money next month, when another group of equally-discriminating alcoholic beverage-enthusiasts descend upon L.A. for the Los Angeles Sake Festival.

Southern California’s biggest sake tasting event, the L.A. Sake Fest is dedicated to exploring and celebrating the surprisingly complex Japanese libation.  The event features more than 100 different sakes for tasting, along with quicky classes by sake experts and drinks poured by renown mixologists.

The ancient beverage known as sake uses a fermentation process that is a hybrid of wine and beer making.  Similarly to wine, sake can assume countless variations depending on how fermentation occurs, and, also like wine, each sake has unique purposes and food pairings.  The drink also plays a prominent part in Japanese ceremony, and its preparation, serving and storage are complex processes.

Connoisseurs and sake virgins alike can explore the beverage’s finer points, collecting cards from the vendors to help remember which brands they like, without the snootiness of a wine tasting– the fest features karaoke, and a vibe that is more fun than exclusive (described by the event’s organizers as not “your parent’s sake tasting”).

The 2010 L.A. Sake Fest will be held March 27 at the Hollywood Renaissance hotel, and is 21+.