Sake Industry News. Issue #114

Awards Awards Awards, US Dassai exported to Japan, Yasutaka Daimon retires, Enzymes in the mix, and much more!

Welcome to Issue #114 of SIN.

(Apologies: Due to logistics there is no audio version of this issue)

This issue is fairly heavy on awards news. Yes, it’s that time of year when the brewers of Japan submit the fruits of their labor to judging panels locally and all around the world in return for criticism, praise and - hopefully - medals.

Awards and competitions for sake can be a polarizing topic. It’s easy to spot flaws in the system. Some breweries are known for a scattershot approach of throwing as much sake at as many competitions as possible in hopes of getting multiple hits, or at least a hit somewhere. Such an approach favors larger breweries that have the manpower and capacity to produce numerous products for consideration. This also highlights the unfairness to smaller breweries that simply don’t have the manpower or finances (that’s right, these things ain't free, you know) to be producing and shipping sake off for competitions. There is also frequent criticism of competitions such as the Japan Sake Awards, where the sake submitted is not the type of sake that many of the breweries normally make, but rather styles made specifically to please the judges.

There will always be a few consumers that put a little too much stock in the results of these competitions, however for the skeptics, one way to look at them is as a form of motivation and encouragement. Regardless of one’s stance on sake appraisals, it’s always nice to see a brewery and its staff genuinely chuffed with being recognized for their hard work. Surely no one would begrudge that.

And if a brewery decides to use award recognition as a base for its promotion and advertising, that’s their prerogative. At the end of the day, awards and medals can simply be another way to get into the psyche of the consumer, let them know what’s out there and how high the standard of sake is these days. 

No one is saying you have to agree with the results or that it should influence your drinking choices. Just think of it as recognition for a job well done. We all know taste is subjective and, regardless of award recognition, we all have our own preferences which are completely valid. Last year the winner of the Academy Award for best picture was “Everything Everywhere All At Once” - not really my thing, but it didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment of “John Wick 4”. And so it is with sake.

And now for the news…

N.B. Chief editor Julian Houseman is filling in for John Gauntner with comments on the stories in this issue.

Kura Masters Winners Announced

France- On June 10 the winners of the eighth Kura Master competition were announced. The judging for France's premier sake (alongside shochu and awamori) competition took place in May. 

The competition evaluates sake across six categories: junmai daiginjō, junmai, sparkling, classic moto, koshu, and the newest category, daiginjō.

This year a total number of 1223 entries were evaluated (up from 1192 last year). 

The Top 16 were then selected from 32 sake entries that passed the final judging stage. The top award Jury Prize went to Haneya junmai ginjō Tomino Kaori from Fumigiku Shuzō in Toyama Prefecture. 

Top winners per category were:

Junmai: Haneya junmai ginjō Tomino Kaori (Fumigiku Shuzō, Toyama)

Daiginjō: Shirayuki Daiginjō Itami Morohaku (Konishi Shuzō, Hyogo)

Junmai Daiginjō: Daishinshu Teippai (Sakagura Daishinshu, Nagano)

Sparkling: Mizubasho Pure (Nagai Sake, Gunma)

Classic Moto: Tengumai Yamahai Junmai (Shata Shuzō, Ishikawa)

Koshu: Shirayuki Edo-Genroku Extra Matured (Konishi Shuzō, Hyogo Prefecture)

A full list of winners is available on the Kura Master website in Japanese here.

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Best In Show Down Under

Sydney- The winners of the third Australian Sake Awards were also announced on June 10.

australiansakeawards

A post shared by @australiansakeawards

Over two days in May, judges from various sake and hospitality related backgrounds judged over 160 submitted sake in five categories to determine sake most suited to the Australian palate and lifestyle.