You can taste Hanzo, Ota Sake Brewery from Mie prefecture, and Yoshinogawa, Yoshinogawa co,Ltd from Niigata prefecture.
Hanzo (Ota Sake Brewery)
Currentry, there are 34 sake brewaries in Mie. The sake produced in Mie’s breweries always performs well in the Annual Japan Sake Awards and other contests, and its delicious taste is gaining increasing attention. The reasons why it tastes so delicious are Mie’s rich food culture rooted in the locality, its climate, clear spring water, and high-quality sake rice. Based on these factors, the breweries produce a variety of high-quality sake that complements well with all kinds of cuisine.
The products of Ota Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. are largely hand-made according to traditional production techniques. The brew master, or “Toji”, is the most important person in the brewing process. He controls the quality of the sake by deciding at what temperature the fermentation process takes place. He also supervises all the other workers. The most important period in the sake making process is from November to April, since the low winter temperatures benefit the sake quality.
During this time, the brew master is always present in the brewery, continuously checking the temperature of the raw sake, even during the night. Many experienced brew masters are originally from the Tohoku area of Northern Honshu.
The brew master at Ota Sake Brewery Co., Ltd., Mr. Hisamitsu Fujii, 71, comes from Iwate Prefecture, also located in Tohoku, and is a member of the “Nambu Toji” Brew Master Guild. His skills, combined with 50 years of sake making know-how at Ota Sake Brewery Co., Ltd., where management and staff is working together as a team with the determination to only produce the highest quality.
Hanzo Junmai Daiginjo was selected for G7 Ise-Shima Summit. Because of that Hanzo Junmai Daiginjo Yamadanishiki Migaki 40 (Seimaibuai 40%) was short supply.
Tasting at home by amazon
Hanzo Junmai Daiginjo 【Kami No Ho】大田酒造 半蔵 純米大吟醸 神の穂 ７２０ml
Exclusively made with the “Kami No Ho” variety of sake rice, especially developed over 12 years for the Mie area, which was described as “God’s country” in Japanese legends. It features a fresh, particularly smooth flavor, the way sake should taste.
Rice: Kami No Ho
Seimaibuai (The degree of polishing rice): 50%
The degree of Sake: +2
Alcohol: 15%
How to serve: Under 15℃ is good, but best is chilled at 7-10℃
Suitable for both Japanese and Western style meal
Yoshinogawa (Yoshinogawa co,Ltd)
Yoshinogawa is located in Settaya, Nagaoka city, Niigata. Nagaoka is famous for Fireworks. The Nagaoka Festival is held from August 1st to August 3rd around the Shinano River. Its main attractions are the portable shrine float parades and folk dance processions during the day with large-scale fireworks displays in the evening on the final two days. It is one of the three great fireworks festivals of Japan.
It is said that over 1 million spectators attend over the three days every summer. It is really a big event, you need an early reservation for transport and accommodation.
Settaya is a village in Niigata known for many years as a place specializing in fermentation. There are swarms of breweries such as Sake, Mirin (sweet sake; used as seasoning) and Soy sauce in the 500 square meters and you can see many wooden and old style buildings. On of the old building has existed ever since the Edo period. This quaint town still retains the atmosphere of old bygone days.
Mikuni Kaido (三国街道) was an ancient highway in Japan that stretched from Takasaki-juku (present day Gunma Prefecture) on the Nakasendo to Teradomari-juku (present day Niigata Prefecture) on the Hokuriku Kaido. Settaya area was along the Mikuni Kaido and convenient location in Edo period. Moreover, there were abundance of high quality underground water from Ota river and Shinano river also produced rice and soybeans. Therefore sake, miso and soy sauce brewing industries developed in this area.
Yoshinogawa is founded in 1548. It is the oldest brewery in Niigata where the one of Japan’s leading sake producing areas. They have 470 years brewing history.
Tasting at home by amazon
Ginjo Gokujo Yoshinogawa 吟醸 極上吉乃川 ７２０ml
DATE AND TIME
2018/11/08 (Thu)～2018/11/14 (Wed) 10:00～20:00
You cannot go? Check out ichibansake Event Calendar
LOCATION
Ikebukuro Tobu Department Store B1F
1 Chome-1-25 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0021
Access
Directly connected to “Ikebukuro station”
Web site
For more information visit, 東武百貨店 池袋店 日本酒催事スケジュール
