Haneya Junmai Daiginjō 50 Tsubasa

Haneya Junmai Daiginjō 50 Tsubasa (羽根屋 純米大吟醸50 翼) is made of Gohyakumangoku rice from Toyama Prefecture milled to 50%. The brewery describes it as gentle and light, like the sound of wings flapping in the sky. The fresh taste spreads out with dignity. It is soft and beautiful and has the right amount of umami and sweetness to envelop Japanese ingredients gently.

Awards:

• Winner of the Platinum Award at "Kura Master 2022"
• Winner of the Gold Award at "Kura Master 2020/2019/2018"
• Won a Silver medal at the IWC 2023/2020
• Won a Gold medal at the IWC 2016

Fumigiku Sake Brewery is a small sake brewery based in Toyama City. It has a long history and tradition. It was founded in 1916 and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. The current owner, Hane Keiki (羽根敬喜), worked for a significant fermentation manufacturer in Tōkyō before returning to Toyama to take over his family's business and enter the world of sake brewing.

At the time, sake brewing was carried out by veteran tōji, who had won many awards at competitions. Still, there was generally a big difference in how sake was made between sake for competition and the market. Hane had doubts about this, and to make commercial sake tasty, he came up with the idea of 'making all sake in the same way as Daiginjō'.

This idea, which went against the conventional wisdom of sake brewing, met with fierce opposition from the tōji (master brewer), but he was persuaded to enter the brewery and make the sake himself. A new era of Tomikiku sake brewing began with the same labour-intensive limited water-absorption method as for Daiginjō, which is the key to processing the raw materials for the sake of rice. Hane learnt the sake brewing process from the veteran master brewer and eventually took over the entire process. Today, as a master brewer, Hane directs the brewing of Haneya's sake with the local brewers.

Fumigiku Shuzō currently has two brands, Fumikiku and Haneya, and is considering brewing a new era of sake with Haneya, a special sake produced exclusively for the national market. Haneya sake is made using natural water from Toyama's famous Jōganji River system, which has been selected as one of the 100 best waters in Japan. In addition to the time-consuming limited water suction in small quantities, all sake is carefully kōji-treated using box kōji and lid kōji, methods used only for top-quality Ginjō.

The name Haneya is a long-standing trade name, and the brand is associated with the wish to exist as a sake that lifts the spirits of those who drink it, just as wings do when they soar. Haneya has started a year-round seasonal brewing process and has introduced new standard products, such as the junmai ginjo nama sake Kirabi and junmai Daiginjō Tsubasa, as well as new proposals such as special limited edition sake. Haneya has also won the Gold Medal in the Sake category at the International Wine Challenge, the world's most extensive wine and sake competition, two years in a row, and has won consecutive awards at the Fine Sake Award Japan (ワイングラスでおいしい日本酒アワード) and its new sake value proposition is gaining recognition.

In recent years, Haneya has also been working again on sake brewing using Tominokori, a sake rice produced in Toyama. This rice has attracted worldwide attention, with Haneya Junmai Ginjō Tominokori winning the Platinum Award, the highest award at the Kura Master 2018 sake competition in France.