Japanese sake scored high at the 2007 International Wine Challenge on Tuesday, with well over half of the entries winning honors.

In the world's largest blind wine tasting, featuring 9,358 wines from 35 different countries judged by 400 international judges, 130 of the 228 Japanese sakes entered were awarded medals, including 10 golds, and a further 45 were commended.

Recognizing the exponential increase in the number of Japanese sake entries, three expert judges were flown in from Japan to lead specific tasting panels and were said to have been "astounded" by the quality of the submissions.

"It's a very exciting time for sake — these awards have just been great," said International Wine Challenge Cochair Sam Harrop.