Welcome to Issue #113 of SIN.
All the signs are there that summer is on its way as fridges around town can be seen teeming with seasonal summer sake. And when the impossibly humid summer heat turns up here in Japan, light, dry, low-alcohol sake starts to look pretty attractive.
Will it be another record breaking summer that leaves us hibernating in our air conditioned abodes, hiding from the elements till it all goes away?
Some reports are saying it will be. We’ll just have to wait and see, but as long as there’s some of that crisp summer sake in the fridge, we just might make it through.
And now here’s the news…
Japan Sake Awards Results Announced
Japan- The results of the 110th Japan Sake Awards (AKA the National New Sake Awards) were announced on May 22 with an upset this year as Hyogo Prefecture pipped perennial favorite, Fukushima Prefecture, by just one gold medal.
This year saw 858 sake entered into the famed daiginjō battle royale with 195 awarded gold medals and 392 scoring recognition as an “award sake”, or silver medal.
Fukushima pulled a respectable haul of 18 golds this year, while Hyogo and its illustrious roster of breweries managed 19. Other prefectures that scored well include Yamagata (14) and Nagano (12), however an interesting entry into the top five this year was Tochigi Prefecture, which came in with 10 gold medals to tie in fifth place with Akita Prefecture.
Tochigi Prefecture actually performed better than any other prefecture in terms of number of breweries and entries against awards received.
Check the NRIB site for full results (in Japanese), and a list of the gold prize winners only in English here.
JG: Interesting results this year. Not only was Fukushima edged out, but lately if it wasn’t Fukushima it was another Tohoku region prefecture, like Yamagata last year. Also, as good as Hyogo is, they rarely come out on top in the haul of golds, at least not in recent history. Be sure to peruse the list at the links to see if your faves showed well.
Born Into Luxury
Fukui- Katō Kichibee Shōten, maker of Born/Bon, will release a new 12 year-aged vintage sake this autumn.
Born has enjoyed much popularity over the years in the overseas market with labels such as Yumewa Masayume priced at JPY13K in Japan (USD87), fetching as much as JPY200K (USD1.2K) in China.
The new label, Born Chōgin Vintage will be priced at JPY1.1mil (USD7K) , however prices are expected to rise overseas by up to ten-fold, putting it on a market level with vintage wine and whiskey.
Aged at subzero temperatures since 2012, Born Chōgin Vintage marks Katō Kichibee Shōten’s first foray into the lucrative vintage sake market. The finer specifications of the sake have not yet been disclosed, however it being described as the pinnacle of Born sake.
The brewery will be releasing 200 bottles, however most have already been snapped up by allocation to various restaurants and sommeliers.
The Chinese and greater foreign market makes up 50% of Katō Kichibee Shōten sake shipments. However recent sales in China have reflected a decline in the luxury sector, while positive growth continues among uber-wealthy consumers consuming vintage wine and expensive whiskeys.
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