Sakaya NYC Blog

Happy New Year!  In keeping with our pledge to bring you the latest arrivals to the U.S., we begin our 2010 tastings with the very first seasonal namazake (unpasteurized sake) of the year and follow that with a brand new sake that has just become available in this country.   We wind up the month with some brews that when served warm are great for taking some of the bite out of mother nature’s frosty embrace and a couple of old favorites that pair wonderfully with hearty winter fare.

We look forward to seeing you at one of all of these SAKAYA tastings for a New Year’s  Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Saturday, January 9, 2010, 4-6PM

Nanbu Bijin Tokubetsu Junmai Nama Tasting

Friday, January 15, 2010, 6-8PM

Japan Prestige Sake Association Tasting

Shirataki Jukusei Jozen Mizunogotoshi Junmai Ginjo (Niigata)

Friday, January 22, 2010, 6-8PM

World Sake Tasting

Kamoizumi Shusen “Three Dots” Junmai & Kamoizumi Summer Snow Nigori (Hiroshima)

Friday, January 29, 2010, 6-8PM

NY Mutual Trading Tasting

Take no Tsuyu Junmai (Yamagata) & Tama no Hikari Yamahai Ginjo (Kyoto)

We were delighted that our  SAKAYA Sake Club drew the attention of  Daily Candy which decided to include it in their 18 Last Minute Gifts list today.  So far, the response has been an impressive demonstration of their pulling power!

Click here to see their site.

Sake lovers might not want to miss the rare opportunity to taste Japanese dishes made using Dassai 23 sake kasu (the lees or solids that are left after the sake is pressed from the fermented mash).  On Tuesday, November 24,  a tasting at The Japanese Culinary Center will feature sake kasu-marinated black cod and chicken as well as a salmon sake kasu nabe (hot pot).  Attendees will receive a free package of sake kasu for at home use.

For more details please visit the Japanese Culinary Center website.

With Thanksgiving  just around the corner,  it’s that time again when the wine scribe community holds forth on the annual “what wine to drink with the big dinner” question.  Somehow, they always seem to land in the same Beaujolais, Zinfandel, Riesling neighborhood….hmmm.  We’ve pondered the question ourselves and, with a bit of a bias as you might suspect, came up with some different answers…

Dassai 39 Sparkling Daiginjo Nigori (Yamaguchi) — Every holiday begins with a kanpai/toast and this expressively effervescent sparkler which strikes the perfect balance between sweet and dry is not only a festive aperitif, but is also a great match with hors d’oeuvres to serve as you welcome your guests.

Akita Bare Suirakuten Junmai Daiginjo (Akita) — To complement your first course, serve this elegant, gentle, compact brew with a clean dry finish.  After tasting this sake, you’ll want to add it to your list of reasons to give thanks.

Sawanoi Kiokejikomi Kimoto Junmai (Tokyo) — For a sublime pairing with roast turkey, savory stuffing, and sides e.g. sweet potatoes, maple bacon brussels sprouts, etc., nothing beats this nutty, creamy, sake with its layers of  butterscotch and caramel flavors balanced with just the right amount of acidity

Housui Tokubetsu Junmai (Tokushima) – As an alternative or a second option for the main course, this aromatic, silky, slightly sweet sake’s peppery flavor and long finish also has the acidity to stand up to the richness of traditional Thanksgiving fare.

So, try sake this Thanksgiving.  You may find yourself  thanking the Japanese for something on this quintessentially American holiday.  Perhaps if all those wine writers did the same, they might come up with a new answer to the annual question.

Please come visit us for specific suggestions for sake ideas to match your menu.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rick & Hiroko

Our friend Harris Salat,  author of The Japanese Food Report, has teamed up with Chef Chikara Sono of Kyoya and Saveur magazine to produce a fascinating workshop on preparing, curing, and serving fish Japanese-style.   One of SAKAYA’s earliest supporters, Henry Sidel of Joto Sake will serve and discuss the sake to pair with the dishes that participants will learn to prepare in the Saveur test kitchen.

The workshop will be held on Monday, December 7, from 7 – 9:30PM.

This is an amazing opportunity and seats are extremely limited so sign up today at http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2009/11/workshop.html

The more familiar you become with sake, the more you come to find how many different approaches there are to making it.  While brewing a beverage from rice, water, yeast, and koji may seem relatively straightforward, there are an unfathomable number of variations on the basic method (if there is such a thing) used by brewers to create their own unique sake.  To add to your experience we’ve scheduled a variety of sake, each with its own “recipe” and story behind it.  Please join us to taste them and hear what was done to give them each their own distinct aromatics and flavor profile.

We look forward to seeing you!

Kanpai!

Rick & Hiroko

Friday, November 6, 2009, 6-8PM

Yumegokoro Sake Brewery Tasting by Nobuo Shoji, the Exective Director

Naraman Muroka Junmai (Fukushiima)

Saturday, November 14, 2009, 5-7PM

Wataribune Junmai Ginjo Tasting (Ibaraki)

Friday, November 20, 2009, 6-8PM

JFC Importer Sake Tasting

Gassanryu Junmai & Ura-Gassanryu Honjozo Muroka Namazume (Yamagata)

Saturday, November 28, 2009, 5-7PM

Takaisami Tokubetsu Junmai (Tottori)

The following day’s brewery visit took me in a completely different direction, to Ozawa Shuzo in scenic Sawai, nestled among verdant mountains about two hours west of the city, but still in Tokyo prefecture. This time, a pleasant five minute walk through the picturesque village led me to my destination, the kura that brews one of my favorite sake, Sawanoi Kiokejikomi Iroha Kimoto Junmai.  My guides Kubo-san and his assistant were gracious and informative, making sure that I saw the cedar tank (kioke) used in making the aforementioned brew, the underground springs that are their two water sources, and a wall of koshu (aged sake) vintages dating back 20 years.

Another highlight of the visit was a perfect lunch at their fabled tofu restaurant perched serenely just above the rapids of the Tama River. As my server presented each in a series of delectable tofu dishes, I sipped from the flight of four Sawanoi sake that I had pre-selected while gazing at the natural beauty of the tableau spread out before my windowside table.  Even as rain began to fall, it only enhanced what couldn’t have been a more peaceful and relaxing experience!

Accompanied by our friend Melinda, I set out early the morning following the SSI awards event for Huchuhomare Shuzo in Ishioka, a small town in Sonoma-like Ibaraki-ken, about an hour and a half north by train from Shinjuku station in Tokyo.  On our arrival at Ishioka station, we were greeted warmly by the smiling shacho-san (brewery President) Takaaki Yamauchi.  As he drove us to his family-owned brewery, we discussed the local effects of the typhoon which had made landfall in eastern Japan the day before, destroying several older buildings nearby.  Fortunately, no harm had come to any of the inhabitants!  (Aside from high winds which temporarily shut down rail service, the much-anticipated typhoon had been a non-event in Tokyo).

Following a welcome of tea and sweets in the ancient reception room, Yamauchi-san led us on an intriguing tour of the kura.  We then tasted the full line of Wataribune nihonshu as he described the history of the brewery and how he had come to use the unique Wataribune strain of  sakamai (sake rice varietal) to make his sake.  It seems that a former high-ranking Ministry of Agriculture official who had retired to the locale, about twenty years ago suggested that Huchuhomare consider resurrecting the long-ago used pure strain.  Only problem was that all they could find was about 15 grams of seeds in the seed bank.  Not a lot to start a rice field with!  Nevertheless, they planted it, collected the seeds each year and eventually cultivated a sufficient supply for sake brewing.  The story came to life quickly as our next stop was that very rice field itself which surrounds our lunch destination, the homemade tofu and soba restaurant owned and operated by, you guessed it, the gentleman who brought Wataribune to Yamauchi-san!

To learn more about the wonder of Wataribune, read this.

Earlier this month, I traveled to Tokyo to receive The Sake Service Institute’s (SSI) Honorary Master Sake Sommelier Award (Kikizake-shi) on behalf of SAKAYA. Since it was the 10th Anniversary of these awards, there were a number of luminaries from the worlds of sake, journalism, and Japanese hospitality in attendance at the three-hour event which featured a Shinto ceremony, awards presentation, and dinner.

As one of three America-based honorees along with True Sake’s Beau Timken and T.I.C Restaurant Group’s Bon Yagi (owner of Sakagura, Decibel, Robataya, and a number of other Japanese restaurants in NYC), I was thrilled that our efforts to promote enthusiasm for sake and its linkage to Japanese culture were recognized, and honored to have been included among such distinguished (and far more accomplished) company.

Accompanied by Hiroko’s dear friend Hitomi, who met me at my hotel dressed in a beautiful pink kimono, I found the event to be a curious mix of glitz and traditional ritual. At one moment we’d be bathed in swirling lights from a mirror ball with blasting disco music, then a few minutes later, silence would be broken by mournful chant from a Shinto priest. It was truly East meets West. We shuttled back and forth between a reception room where we met and conversed with the other honorees, SSI dignitaries, and their friends and family to photo sessions, and the ballroom where the Shinto ceremony and awards dinner took place.  During the dinner, we were called to the stage to accept our awards, traditional scrolls bearing our official kikizakeshi plus a medal of honor which would put a military commendation to shame, while those in attendance ate or watched (or both).

What I found interesting was that although it was a sake event, the beverage was but a bit player in the grand scheme of things. It was available in the reception room during our down time between shuttling and a small glass was at each of our seats during the ceremony. I purposely didn’t drink it as I anticipated a “kanpai” at the conclusion of the proceedings which never came. For dinner, there were four sake servings of about 2 oz. but no refills offered. Odd, I thought for an event dedicated to promoting service of the brew!

What there was in abundance were appeals for money. Each of the honorees had been responsible for a “donation” to the Shinto shrine from which the priest had come to perform the ceremony. There were also envelopes and forms given to each person soliciting donations for the SSI foundation.  Finally, after the awards were given and as dinner segued into dessert, there was an auction of sake, shochu, and other donated items to raise money for the same(?) foundation. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that fund-raising, may in fact, have been the point of the event.

The balance of the trip was devoted to: visiting sake breweries Huchuhomare Shuzo and Ozawa Shuzo, the makers of Wataribune and Sawanoi respectively, a sake yeast focused tutorial tasting at Japan Prestige Sake’s Okanaga Club with sake master Dr. Koichiro Mori, exploring the Tokyo food and drink scene with friends Hitomi and Hanayo Kishi, Melinda Joe, J.P. Mudry, Ted O’Neill, Etsuko Nakamura, and a day of tasting sake from Shimane prefecture, sake shopping, and izakaya drinking with friend and mentor John Gauntner.