The Zao Tokubetsu Junmai Sake from Zao Shuzo is a very fresh and crisp sake. Tokubetsu means "special", so this is a special Junmai Sake with a rice polish of 55%, a ginjo quality from this point of view. Only the local Miyama Nishiki rice is used. Zao Tokubetsu Junmai Sake is extremely refreshing and fruity with a pleasant acidity and a good portion of umami. You can taste light notes of citrus and lychee as well as hazelnut.
Description
Zao Tokubetsu Junmai 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 brewery's sake has won many awards. Zao Shuzo is the 11th most awarded brewery in Japan for its sake.
Zao Tokubetsu Junmai has a very fresh and clear taste. Tokubetsu means "special". A tokubetsu junmai sake is considered to be slightly better than a junmai sake, but in terms of taste, these qualities do not usually fit into a ginjo category. Their character is somewhat more rustic, but at the same time they have a very exciting and refined taste profile. Only Miyama Nishiki, a popular sake rice from Miyagi Prefecture, is used. Zao Tokubetsu Junmai has a nice acidity and lots of umami and is a great food pairing for fish, grilled meat, cheese and sweet desserts.
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 Sake / Tokubetsu Junmai
Rice polish: 55%
Net quantity: 720 ml
Alcohol: 15% vol
Only for sale to persons of legal age
Importer: Ginza Berlin GmbH, Pfalzburger Straße 20, 10719 Berlin, Germany
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 founding, it was a small independent sake producer, producing only 4,500 liters of sake. Today, Zao Shuzo is the 11th most awarded sake brewery in Japan. 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 neighboring town of Kakuda in cooperation with young farmers from the region. The area is blessed with particularly soft water from the Shiroishi River, making it ideal for sake production. The sake kasu (sake lees), which is left over from the brewing process, is used as a fertilizer component for the rice fields, so that sake becomes rice again.
Another special feature of Zao Shuzo is the average age of its employees. The team is very young, all employees are between 20 and 35 years old. In 2016, a 28-year-old toji was hired. The taste of the sake has changed since then. While it used to have a very rich taste, Zao's sake is now extremely fresh and clear.
