Tag Archives: Japan

GATEWAY TO SAKE | SAKE PRESERVED

Posted on by
Reply

Whether dipping your toe or ready for the deep end, our sake portfolio is open to you. With over 60 bottlings from 16 Kura representing 10 prefectures across Japan, and with 11 varieties brewed in Oregon, THE WINE COMPANY sake portfolio combines the best of World Sake Imports and SAKÉ ONE with a spectrum of styles from Nigori to Junmai Daiginjo, Nama to Genshu, Organic to Vegan in 7 formats – 6 in glass, 1 in can!

What makes some sake better than others? Certainly the attention to detail at the brewery, the type of water they have, the variety of rice, and the mastery of timing. One factor however that remains outside of the brewer’s control is preserving the sake once it is released to the wider world. Between our chosen selections and our efforts to this end, our sake stand head and shoulders above the rest.

All sake at THE WINE COMPANY are shipped under refrigeration from their breweries in Japan or Oregon to Minnesota. As soon as it lands it goes into our large walk-in cooler entirely devoted to sake. Preservation is paramount which is why we exhort everyone we know to do the same so together we can serve all sake as the master sake brewer intended. Another world beckons.

Here are TECH SHEETS on some sake we are proud to represent:

Akitabare | Akita Prefecture
Akitabare “Koshiki Junzukuri” Northern Skies
Akitabare “Shunsetsu” Spring Snow

Dewazakura | Yamagata Prefecture
Dewazakura “Izumi Judan” Tenth Degree
Dewazakura “Oka” Cherry Bouquet
Dewazakura “Dewasasan” Green Ridge
Dewazakura “Tobiroku” Festival of Stars

Hakutsuru | Hyogo Prefecture
Hakutsuru Excellent Junmai Sake
Hakutsuru Junmai Daiginjo Sho-Une
Hakutsuru Junmai Draft Sake
Hakutsuru Organic Sake
Hakutsuru Sayuri Nigori Sake
Hakutsuru Superior Junmai Ginjo
Hakusturu Umeshu Plum Wine

Hoyo | Miyagi Prefecture
Hoyo “Kura no Hana” Fair Maiden

Kamoizumi | Hiroshima Prefecture
Kamoizumi “KomeKome” Happy Bride
Kamoizumi “Junmai Daiginjo” Autumn Elixir
Kamoizumi “Nigori Ginjo” Summer Snow

Kasumi Tsuru | Hyogo Prefecture
Kasumi Tsuru Kimoto Extra Dry

KIBO | Iwate Prefecture
KIBO Junmai Sake -in a can! 

Masumi | Nagano Prefecture
Masumi “Okuden Kantsukuri” Mirror of Truth

Miyasaka | Nagano Prefecture
Miyasaka “Yawaraka Junmai” Sake Matinee

Murai Family | Aomori Prefecture
Murai Family Daiginjo Sake
Murai Family Nigori Genshu
Murai Family Sugidama Sake
Murai Family Tokubetsu Honjozo

Sake Moto | Hyogo Prefecture
SakeMoto Junmai

Tedorigawa Yoshimi | Ishikawa Prefecture
Tedorigawa “Iki na Onna” Lady Luck
Tedorigawa “Yamahai Daiginjo” Chrysanthemum Meadow

G | Oregon, USA
G Fifty Junmai Ginjo Genshu
G Joy  Junmai Ginjo Genshu

Momokawa | Oregon, USA
Momokawa Diamond Medium Dry
Momokawa Pearl Creamy Nigori
Momokawa Organic Nigori
Momokawa Organic Junmai

Grateful for every sake from these renown sake breweries,
we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Sake the Epiphany

Posted on by
Reply

We find many of our dearest discoveries over drinks at dinner. Sake is no exception. Once we evolved beyond the warmed sake of yore to discover the varied styles beyond this inert custom, a light bulb flickered and down the rabbit hole we went matching mineral junmai to favorite oysters, sipping delicate daiginjo with an array of subtly sweet and fragrant foods, while savoring those with less of their rice milled away with fuller flavors like tempura -even well marbled beef.

Food is so often the low door in the wall. Our vinous fascination takes us from there. Wine and sake have much in common after all but we love sake all the more for being distinct in its own right -not least that it has less acidity and is free of tannins setting new opportunities at the table. For a grain grown in water, its goût de terroir is less an expression of climate, slope, weather, or a given variety of rice and more about the water itself and regional brewing traditions. A new terrain to be sure but how quickly we learn the cognates for the gin drinker’s aperitif, find a sake for that itch for a rich Meursault -even scintillating alternatives to Champagne. No wonder sake has earned a growing awareness and rising popularity. Sake is a world unto itself inspiring singular pleasures unique to this Gift of the Gods.