Mukantei Ginjo
Sake Profile:
| Type of Sake: | Ginjoshu |
| Rice Variety: | Uruchi Rice |
| Rice Polished Ratio: | 55% |
| AVB: | 15% |
| Sake Meter Value: | +4 |
| Acidity: | 1.5 |
| Optimum Serving Temperature: | Chilled (10°C) |
Tasting Notes:
Dry, crisp, and clean with cucumber, fresh mint and umami on the palate. Cleansing acidity and little bitterness make this a great sake to drink with food. Maritime, romantic, a good example of Niigata sake.
Food Matching:
Good with food rich in umami from protein, such as salted grilled chicken, oboro tofu (just-made tofu), tuna sushi, tuna or seabream carpaccio
Story of Sake:
Mukantei was created in 1983, when ginjoshu sake was all the rage in Japan, but its continued popularity is proof of its enduring quality. At that time, ginjoshu sake was seen as having great depth of flavour, but it could not be mass produced as it was prohibitively expensive to do so. This spurred the brewers at Kikusui Sake, always ready to rebel against the norm, to do something to rectify the situation. As a result of their action, a ginjoshu was created that kept all the good qualities of this type of sake but available at a much lower price for the consumer, making it much more accessible to many more sake enthusiasts.
Back then, ginjoshu was sold as tokubetsu (Special Grade) or ikkyu (Grade 1) under the Sake Classification System, a way of grading sake sold under Japan’s Liquor Tax Law, meaning that additional taxes were applied that increased the price of the product. Kikusui Sake decided to circumvent the punitive additional taxes by creating a Grade 2 ginjoshu while maintaining the depth of flavour and quality with which ginjoshu was rightly associated.
The name of the sake is Mukantei, the ‘uncrowned emperor’. That’s because the brewers don’t want you to be dazzled by its name or its grade. They simply want you to taste the sake for yourself, and enjoy its crisp, sharp taste.
Kikusui Sake
Name of Producer: Akihiro Kawauchi
Website: www.kikusui-sake.com/home/__english/index.html
Location: Shibata, Niigata Prefecture
Located in the north of the Echigo Plain, with the Japan Sea to the north-west and mountains to the south-east. Shibata retains something of the atmosphere of a castle town from the Edo period, and is full of rice fields producing quality rice, fed by the many rivers in the area, including the River Kaji.
Climate: Hot summers characteristic of the Japan Sea-facing Hokuriku area are followed by winters of heavy snowfall. The region running along the north-east Niigata coast, which includes Shibata, has relatively less snowfall than other parts of the prefecture, but experiences cold rainfall as a result of seasonal winds.
Local Specialty: Asparagus, strawberries
Landmark: Shibata Castle, Shimizuen Gardens
