Zao Noboriryu is a Junmai Daiginjo sake with a 45% polish. Made with 100% local rice Miyama Nishiki, this sake is brewed very slowly at a low temperature to produce an elegant aroma and refreshing taste. The Zao Noboriryu sake is somewhat reminiscent of a light Riesling. Notes of soft apricot, cheesecake and fine caramel can be tasted. It is complex with a balance between sweetness, acidity and spiciness. A full rice aroma and nice umami notes round off this great Junmai Daiginjo.
Description
Zao Noboriryu is produced by Zao Shuzo in the city of Shiroishi in Miyagi Prefecture. The Zao team is one of the youngest in the country; all employees, including the toji, are between 20 and early 30s. The sake from the small brewery has won many awards. Zao Shuzo is the 11th most awarded brewery in Japan for its sake.
Zao Noboriryu is a Junmai Daiginjo sake, i.e. a sake of the highest quality level with a high degree of polishing of 45%. The design of the label, the dragon rising into the sky, is by Kikuta Ishu, one of the four great painters of the Date clan (Date-shi) of the late Edo period, and is extremely popular in Japan as a gift. This sake impresses with its balance of sweetness, acidity and spiciness. It is very complex and also scores with its fruity-sweet aroma. The pronounced rice flavour is great.
Zao Noboriryu can be used in many ways in food pairings. It goes well with Japanese dishes with raw fish, but also with Western dishes like Wiener Schnitzel. Noboriryu is also fantastic with intense and spicy Chinese dishes. You should definitely enjoy this sake well chilled. We recommend a special sake glass or alternatively a white wine glass.
Learn more about sake from Miyagi Prefecture here .
Japanese Junmai Daiginjo Sake
Rice polishing grade: 45%
Net quantity: 720 ml
Alk.: 16% vol
Dispensed only to persons of full age
Importer: Ginza Berlin GmbH, Pfalzburger Straße 20, 10719 Berlin
About Zao Shuzo
Zao Shuzo was founded in 1873 at the foot of the Zao Mountains in the city of Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture. It is the only sake brewery in the city. At the time of its foundation, it was a small, independent sake producer, producing only 4,500 litres of sake. Today, Zao Shuzo ranks 11th nationwide among Japan's most awarded breweries for their sake. Since its foundation, the brewery has consistently dedicated itself to quality-oriented sake brewing. Only local rice from Miyagi Prefecture is used. Miyama Nishiki and Kura no Hana, special sake rice varieties for the production of premium sake, are grown by farmers in Shiroishi City and the neighbouring town of Kakuda in cooperation with young farmers from the region. The area is blessed with particularly soft water from the Shiroishi River, so it offers ideal conditions for sake production. The sake kasu (sake trub), which is left over from brewing, is used as a fertiliser component for the rice fields, so that sake becomes rice again.
Another special feature of Zao Shuzo is the average age of the employees. The team is very young, all employees are between 20 and 35 years old. In 2016, a then only 28-year-old toji was hired. The taste of the sake has changed since then. While it used to be very rich in taste, Zao's sake is now extremely fresh and clear.
