Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Brewers' Profile #02: Uzenshiraume (Haneda shuzo)


picture from "www.rakuten.co.jp/e-vin"
 
  In the past there were more than 40 breweries in the Oyama area, Yamagata Pref., but now only four remain. The oldest of these, Uzenshiraume, established in 1592, is located in Tsuruoka city. Using traditional tools the brewers take great care making their Sake bottle by bottle, and consequently they only produce 54kl a year.

  They make a powerful Koji and use no carbon filtration but their Sake is still clean and fresh.

  At first sip you may feel no great impact however you never get tired of drinking Uzenshiraume.

  I also enjoy eating Tsuruoka ramen and browsing in the antique shops every time I visit Uzenshiraume.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Brewers' Profile #01: Koikawa shuzo



  Established mid 18th century, Koikawa produces approx. 140kl using Dewa sansan, Miyamanishiki and Gohyakumangoku rice strains, among others and has worked energetically to brew from locally produced brewers’ rice except for Yamadanishiki which comes from Tokushima Pref.
  Since 1981 Koikawa has also used the rice Kame-no-o -- a very old brewers’ rice that can only be grown using organic methods. Koikawa's Daiginjo Abekameji using Kame-no-o won a gold prize at 2008 Tohoku Sake contest -- an unprecendented achievement for this particular rice. Today Kame-no-o rice is grown by 8 selected farms in Shonaicho, where Koikawa is situated.

  If you visit Koikawa you can enjoy another delicious experience. Not far from Koikawa is Al-che-cciano, one of the best Italian restaurants in the Tohoku region. Here you can enjoy the very best of Italian cuisine with Koikawa sake. 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Happy New Year !

We wish you all the best to 2013.

P.S.
I enjoyed my new year Sake, the last bottle of "Taketsuru Ozasaya Daiwa-omachi 16BY (2004)". It was amazingly smooth and tasty.
* Our current stock of this Sake is 17BY (2005) or later.