Ura-Gasanryuu / 裏雅山流
Kouka / 香鼻
Alcohol: 14~15% / Polish: 65%
SMV: +2
Shindou Shuzouten / Yamagata Prefecture
Tasting notes:
On the nose: Sweet with slight hints of rice, Very clean.
On the palate: Medium dry with a clean light to medium body, and a very round mouth feel. Clean and light.
Other notes:
- A lot of you out there might be thinking "Why is this a Futsu-shu when it has a polish rate of 65%? Shouldn't it be a Junmai or Honjozou?" This sake has the credentials to be a Honjozou. However, there is a catch. Honjozou sake has a strict limit on the amount of brewer's alcohol you are allowed to add to the sake. Kouka, due to the varying conditions of the rice (a yearly variable for all sake), and wanting to create a sake with a consistent flavor profile, The brewers decided that on the years when the rice melts more during the brewing proccess (and I do mean melts, into what looks like rice porridge or sometimes pudding) that they would add in a little more alcohol than what is allowed for Honjozou. In the years when the rice doesn't melt as much Kouka is a Honjozou. As changing the lable every year is both expensive and confusing for the customers, Shindou Shuzouten decided to Leave the general classification as a Futsu-shu.
- The Gasanryuu label uses all home grown Yamagata ingrediants, primarily partaining to the rice (Dewa33, pronounced "day-wa-san-san," it was created in Yamagata and is primarily grown and used there.) The Ura-Gasanryuu lable doesn't use the Dewa33 rice but still uses Yamagata yeast, and Miyama Nishiki rice which, although it is not specified on the bottle, is probably grown in Yamagata Prefecture.
Thats it for this post but look forward to a lot of good things coming out of the Gasanryuu and Ura-Gasanryuu labels.
Until next time,
Cheers!
Meishu no Yutaka staff
Carlin
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