“Enter the Dragon” Sake Tasting!

“ENTER THE DRAGON”

SAKE TASTING!

HIYAAAAH! WATAAAH!  No, it’s not Kung Fu movie night at the Sake Shop (Sorry Frank). I’m just so excited about the “Dragon” sakes we’ll be sampling this Saturday that it’s got me making strange noises and crying out loud with delight! HIYAAAAH! 

With their sleek custom bottles, and their wonderfully smooth flavor (not to mention their awesomely cool name), Kokuryu or “Dragon” sakes are some of the best ones out there. Our “Bruce Lee” of sake, Mr. Yoshiharu Suzuki, from World Sake Imports will be here this Saturday to let you sample some of these exquisite brews.

Yoshi will be pouring not only three Dragon sakes, but a total of NINE different sake altogether, including some GOLD and SILVER award winners from last year’s Joy of Sake/U.S. National Appraisal. Along with the Dragon sakes, there will also be some great ones from Masumi, Tamagawa and the ever elusive, very hard to find, restaurant only phantom sake, Koshi no Kanbai Tokusen!

Sampling NINE incredibly good sake on a Saturday afternoon sure sounds like a good time to me. So be sure to stop by this weekend to get your “DRAGON” on and sample some really good sake!  See you then!

“ENTER THE DRAGON”
SAKE TASTING
Saturday, June 28, 2014
2:00pm to 7:30pm

KOKURYU RYU
“GOLD DRAGON”
Daiginjo

Elegant, sophisticated sake that was once served in First Class on Japan Airlines. The soft water of Fukui, combined with the robust Kokuryu brewing style, produces a sake that is gentle and firm. It has a faint, cedar-like woodiness, and an incisive melding of flavor and aroma.

KOKURYU TOKUSEN
“CRYSTAL DRAGON”
Ginjo

KOKURYU JUNMAI GINJO
“BLACK DRAGON”
Junmai Ginjo

Kokuryu Junmai Ginjo has the imposing presence of sakes brewed in the Noto Toji style of Western Japan. Its deeply mysterious flavor seems to come from the earth itself: rich, dynamic and welcoming. One of our favorite sake to pair with food. Goes well with everything from sashimi to grilled meats!

KOSHI NO KANBAI TOKUSEN
“VANISHING POINT”
Ginjo

From the very first sip, this “RESTAURANT ONLY” sake displays a variety of subtle, ineffable flavors, which converge and diffuse just on the edge of the mind’s awareness. Its elusive nature has given Koshi no Kanbai the nickname “The Phantom Sake”.

MASUMI NANAGO
“SEVENTH HEAVEN”
Daiginjo

MASUMI OKUDEN KANTSUKURI
“MIRROR OF TRUTH”
Junmai

Longtime sake drinkers find this sake comfortingly familiar. It is smooth at first sip and displays a range of subtle, organic flavors as well as a pleasant natural sweetness. Great beginner sake or when you’re looking for something simple and easy to drink.

MIYASAKA YAMAHAI 50 NAMA
“LAST RIDE HOME”
Junmai Yamahai Namazake

This edgy, relatively new label combines the vivid characteristic of namazake (unpasteurized sake) with that unique marriage of acidity and depth achievable only through the old school Yamahai brewing method.  Great by itself, it is even better paired with meats and other savory dishes.

MIYASAKA YAWARAKA
“SAKE MATINEE”
Junmai

This charming junmai, with it’s faint taste of wild plum, represents a new direction for Japanese brewers. It is smooth and gentle, with sweetness and acidity in finely etched balance. Ideal for lunchtime sake sipping. Gold award winner at the last two Joy of Sake/U.S. National Appraisals.

TAMAGAWA TOKUBETSU JUNMAI
“HEART OF OAK”
Tokubetsu Junmai
Signature Junmai release from British Sake Brewmaster Philip Harper. Nutty and toasty with a wild berry zing, this full-throated evocation of Junmai delight is in a class by itself. Richly flavorful, yet crisp-drinking and always balanced.

So be sure to stop by the shop this Saturday to get your “DRAGON” on and sample NINE incredibly good sake. Hope to see you then!

Kanpai,
Malcolm & Nadine Leong
The Sake Shop

“ENTER THE DRAGON”
SAKE TASTING
Saturday, June 28, 2014
2:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Kokuryu Sake Brewery

Kokuryu’s founder, Nizaemon Ishidaya, built the original brewery in 1804 in the vicinity of Eihei-ji, the main temple of the Soto Zen Buddhist sect which is located in Fukui prefecture. Nizaemon’s descendants have been making sake there ever since.

Among the soft-water breweries of Japan, Kokuryu is perhaps the most famous. Its water is drawn from the subterranean flow of of Kuzuryugawa (Nine-Headed Dragon River) famed since ancient times for its delicious taste.

Sake made from soft water tends to pick up subtle flavor nuances that are not detectable in the crisp, dry sakes made from mineral-rich hard water. At the ginjo level they are multi-layered and complex, and It is not always easy to describe their qualities in words.

Kokuryu labels resound with deep flavor, but what makes them unique is their overall finesse. Often sakes with a big taste profile become muddied by amino acids and other fermentation byproducts and lack clarity. Somehow Kokuryu manages to avoid this, bringing rich flavor and delicate balance together in a unique expression of the sake-maker’s art.

Miyasaka Sake Brewery
Four of the award winning sake we’ll be sampling this Saturday are from Miyasaka Sake Brewery in Nagano prefecture. They include Masumi Nanago, Masumi Okuden Kantsukuri, Miyasaka Yamahai 50 Nama  and Miyasaka Yawaraka.

The Miyasaka family originally served as retainers to the Suwa clan who ruled the area at that time. However, following years of strife between the Suwa clan and the warlords Takeda Shingen and Oda Nobunaga,  the family gave up their swords and turned to sake making.

The brewery was firmly established by 1662 and had done well enough to gain the praise of several historical figures including the 6th son of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and Otaka Gengo, one of the famous 47 Ronin.

Masumi Bronze Mirror
Miyasaka Brewery began using the name “Masumi” for their sake at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867). Masumi, which means “truth” or “transparency”, is the name of an 8th century bronze mirror that is kept at the Suwa Taisha Shinto Shrine.

The Miyasaka family provided the shrine with sake for centuries so it was only fitting that that their sake took the name of the shrine’s “Masumi Mirror”.

Masumi’s Yeast #7

In 1946, Masumi achieved great prominence when Brewmaster, Chisato Kubota, discovered a lovely aroma emanating from one of the brewery’s fermentation tanks. An expert from the National Research Institute of Brewing was called in and it was soon confirmed that a new yeast variety, Association No. 7, had been discovered.

In the sake world, discovering a new yeast is like receiving the Nobel Prize, and only a handful of breweries enjoy this distinction. With its gentle, pleasing aroma and ease of use, Yeast No. 7 soon spread beyond Nagano prefecture, and today continues to be used by over half of the breweries in Japan.

In 2002, Masumi released a redolent, old-style sake with an insouciant 21st-century attitude called “Nanago” (No. 7) in tribute to the famous microorganism to whom the sake world owes so much. We’ll be sampling Nanago this Saturday and you won’t want to miss it.

Kinoshita Sake Brewery

Kinoshita Brewery is located in Kyoto prefecture and was originally founded in 1842.  They produce Tamagawa sake which translates to “Jewel River” in English.

In 2007 their brewmaster passed away after 48 years of service.  The owner, Yoshito Kinoshita, considered closing the brewery but instead took a chance and made some bold changes to revitalize his business.

First, Mr. Kinoshita had his brother-in-law create a new design and logo for the brewery.  Then, he hired foreign brewmaster, Philip Harper, to take charge as their new toji.

Malcolm, Philip Harper & Nadine
The gamble paid off immediately as Philip Harper’s Tamagawa Kinsho won gold at the prestigious Japan National Sake Appraisal after his very first season at the brewery.

Tamagawa Yeast
Most sake breweries use yeast that has been distributed by the Sake Brewer’s Association of Japan. These yeast have been isolated, identified and numbered over time. Some yeast like Miyasaka Brewery’s Yeast #7 are very well known and highly regarded for it’s ability to produce good sake.

However, in the old days, before pure yeast cultures were isolated and made available to brewers, the yeasts that drove fermentation were the wild ones that were found living in the rafters of the brewery.

Kinoshita Sake Brewery is one of the very few breweries who still use these wild yeast strains to make sake. Referred to as “spontaneous fermentation” style, any sake at Kinoshita that is made in the kimoto or yamahai style use these wild yeast to ferment.

This “spontaneous fermentation” style, using only fine rice polished on site, spring water from the mountain behind the brewery and the yeast and bacteria living in their buildings, is the same kind of brewing that would have been practiced by craftsmen when Kinoshita Brewery was originally founded in 1842.