Nada Gogo sake gets GI 

Last October, Yamagata Prefecture became the first entire prefecture to secure for their sake a Geographical Indication recognized by the World Trade Organization and various international treaties. 

In order to qualify for something like this, a product (any product applying for a GI) must possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Securing such a designation gives the region and its producers the exclusive right to an appropriate indication on the label.

One more region in Japan, the city of Hakusan in Ishikawa Prefecture, has qualified for a Geographical Indication, often abbreviated as GI, for the sake of that region; however, it only applies to the five breweries in city of Hakusan; the rest of the breweries in Ishikawa Prefecture are unaffected. Yamagata Prefecture was the first entire prefecture to secure this distinction. 

This followed the designation of the terms “Japanese Sake” and “Nihonshu” for sake brewed in Japan, four for shochu, and one for Japanese wine.

This, of course, ignited interest around the country in the GI system, and while many places are still pondering it, the historically rich and production-wise prolific Nada region (specifically, Nada Gogo, or “the five villages of Nada,” which straddles the cities of Kobe and Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture) has acheived a Geographical Indication as "Nada Gogo Sake." On June 28^th, Nada Gogo became the 5^th sake related GI, and the 9^th for Japanese alcoholic beverages overall (including Hokkaido wine, which was granted the designation simultaneously).

For those new to Nada, it is basically the brewing capital of Japan, at least in terms of history and sheer volume. Many (but not all) of the companies there are large brewers, growing in size over the 300-odd years that Nada has been the leading brewing region in Japan. The neighborhood (the five villages are lined up along the coast, and within walkable distance of each other) rose to prominence thanks to cold winds blowing down from the mountains, several rivers flowing down whose energy was harnessed to operate milling machines, lots of great rice close by, Tanba toji master brewers, and outstanding water for brewing, known as Miyamizu. All this, plus access to the sea to ship it up to Edo, helped Nada grow steadily over the decades and centuries.

You can learn more about Nada in this fairly old article: 

I think this is significant for a number of reasons. I mean, heck, it’s Nada. It drips with history, culture, and presence. Sake from Nada does have a good, definable style to it. And the region definitely gives rise to a reputation that is associated with its sake, and it is also historically important.

Having said that, the style as worded in the documentation I read was pretty vague. Loosely translated, “Nada Gogo sake has harmony between the flavor elements, and a quick finish.” Indeed, that is true; however, it might be true of other regions as well. It goes on with more equaly vague wording, but also plenty of concrete reasons for having a clear and unique style related to its geography as well.

In the end, it will help convey to the world the significance of Nada sake, and that particular style. That alone will be very valuable for sake overall. But, note that quite a bit of sake on the market comes from Nada Gogo! It is not clear if all sake that could qualify for this GI will be labeled with that distinction or not.  

In fact, as of yet, very little has been released about how this will be marketed. I have not yet found an English-language announcement or promotional page. But I am sure they will get around to that, and in the end, the recognition of Nada Gogo Sake as a bona fide GI will certainly further the industry’s efforts to convey to the rest of the world just how good and worthy their sake is.

This Year’s Japan Sake Awards - again

More Interesting Information

In last month’s newsletter, I wrote about a handful of sake tasting contests that are held within and without Japan. Amongst them all, the longest-running, most official, and most prestigious within the sake-brewing industry is the Zenkoku Shinshu Kampyoukai, or the “National New Sake Competition”, also known as the Japan Sake Awards. While the sake submitted  to this is not market sake – as it is in all other competitions – the expression of both nature and each kura’s brewing skills is very clear. Nowhere is the effect of the year’s climate on sake rice as evident as it is here

Since the results were announced in May, I have had a number of opportunities to taste the sake, and to speak with brewers and other industry luminaries about how the contest sake were this year. And based on my personal tasting, and on comments from just about everyone I spoke to, it was not a good year at all.

In short, the sake this year was in general thin and flat, almost overdrawn – like coffee made with too much water. Many of the sake that won medals were far from outstanding, and in some cases downright mundane at best.

However, the reasons for this are clear. It is not as if the results were totally unexpected or blindsiding.

For one, the summer was not so hot, meaning that the rice will be moister, and will therefore dissolve more quickly. And this leads to big, sloppy flavors if water absorption is not controlled. Next, certain weather conditions led to lots of cracked grains this year. Cracked grains absorb water much, much faster, which leads to brewers even further trying to restrain water absorption.

This was followed by an extremely cold winter, which also slowed down rice dissolution in the tanks. So, what this all meant was that – especially in contest sake – we did not see the voluptuous-yet-tension-laced flavor profiles that are the trends of recent.

Interestingly, the stratum of brewers that did the best were the large brewers and the famous brewers. Large brewers have the means to make several tanks of contest sake, and pick the best of the best of the best for the contest submissions. Smaller brewers usually do not have this luxury. And famous brewers are famous for a reason: they got it all sussed out. In other words, their experience and skill helps them know just how to coax out the right stuff – and nothing but the right stuff, even if the rice for the year is sub-par. Doing so regularly in both contest and market sake is what made them famous in the first place.

Of course, many smaller and less famous brewers did do well too. But the results leaned toward those with more means and experience.

While we could lament about it more, it is best to likely put this BY (brewing year) behind us, and remain positive about next year’s possibilities.

 For those that like stats, check this out: This was the 106^th running of the National New Sake Tasting Competition, er… the Japan Sake Awards. However, from the first running in 1911 until 1955, the results were not made public! Nor were the results kept. While there were many thousands more brewers than there are today, not nearly as many participated. The contest did not have the gravitas that it has today.

The results were made public from 1956, except for two years in the 60s for some odd reason. And the event was not held in 1995 for logistical reasons. So that means that amongst the 106 times the event has been held,  records exist for only 60 of them.

Two brewers, Miyasaka Jozo (brewers of Masumi) in Nagano and Saura Co. Ltd, (brewers of Urakasumi) in Miyagi have each one a gold medal 37 times out of the 60, sharing the honors for most won.  

While the sake tasted in this contest is not sake we can usually buy or drink, the results are significant both historically and culturally, and as an indicator of quality, current direction and consistency.

You can see the medal results, i.e. the golds and “silvers” of this contest in Japanese here and in English here.

Sake Professional Course in Miami, August 13 to 15, 2018  

On August 13, 14 and 15, I will hold the 30th North American running of the Sake Professional Course at Miami Culinary Institute in Miami, Florida.  

The content of this intensive sake course will be identical to that of the Sake Professional Course held each January in Japan. The course is recognized by the Sake Education Council, and those that complete it will be qualified to take the exam for Certified Sake Specialist, which will be offered on the evening of the last day of the course.Learn more here, and you can read Testimonials from past participants here. 

If you would like to make a reservation or to be placed on the notification list, please send an email to that purport to sakeguy@gol.com. 

“No Sake Stone Remains Left Unturned!”

All the Sake World Newsletters ever written: 

Over 20 years of writing sake newsletters, much of the online world has changed. As such, unavoidably, the archives are scattered over several locations. Should you want to scour older newsletters for topics that of interest, you can do that across the three URLs below, found in one of the several manifestations of my website. 

Number 1 to 112 are here: http://sake-world.com/old/html/sw-archives.html 

Number 113 to 185 can be read here http://archive.benchmarkemail.com/Sake-World--Inc-- 

Number 186 to the most recent newsletters can be read here, not in their original format but rather as individual blog posts, in the archives of the Sake World blog: http://sake-world.com/blog/

About This Newsletter
I hope you have found the above information helpful and entertaining. For more information about all things sake, please check out www.sake-world.com. Until next month, warm regards, and enjoy your sake.
Questions and comments should be directed to John Gauntner, at this

email address.
All material Copyright, John Gauntner & Sake World Inc.
Regards,
John Gauntner
Sake World, Inc.