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The Sake Appreciation Thread

More on the Noto breweries, which all suffered severe blows to their business. Noto was famous for its own brewers' guild, the Noto Toji.

The powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in central Japan on New Year's Day has devastated the region's centuries-old sake-making industry. All eleven sake brewers in the northern part of the peninsula have been severely impacted by the magnitude-7.6 quake, leading them to suspend operations for at least a year. Tragically, five of these breweries have been destroyed, leaving their futures uncertain. A local industry group representing these manufacturers has initiated donation efforts in response to this dire situation. The earthquake, which claimed more than 230 lives, has left the owner of one brewery with no choice but to "continue squeaking out a living" without immediate prospects for rebuilding. Their breweries are located in three of the four municipalities on the Sea of Japan coast in the hardest-hit Okunoto, or Inner Noto, region, known for its distinct tradition of having top-level guilds of "toji" master brewers.


Sake brands from Okunoto have long been a major specialty of Ishikawa Prefecture owing to the work of the guilds, reputed as one of Japan's four prominent toji alongside those in Hyogo, Niigata and Iwate prefectures. [...] But the devastation caused by the quake seems certain to affect the link between guilds of master craftsmen that has made Noto brands so special, and could have an impact on the entire culture of sake making over the long term. [...] The prefectural federation of sake brewers associations has made clear that this year's shipments are all but doomed for brewers in the cities of Suzu and Wajima, as well as those from Noto town. "We need assistance from the entire country to rebuild. We really need your help," said Shigehisa Uratani, 68, the federation's managing director.


 
Hokkaido-based breweries are rallying to a call to produce a familiar brand of Japanese sake and taking things a step further by ageing the product in barrels made of Japanese oak. The idea is for the companies to combine their expertise to create a unique brand of sake called Kitasake, whose kanji characters for north and sake (北酒) pay homage to Japan's northernmost main island.

Kitasake Brewery

Sake is not typically aged in barrels made of Japanese oak. But doing so, producers say, gives the rice wine a distinctive smoky flavour and aroma. But the real rarity value derives from the fact that only one or two in 100 Japanese oak trees can be processed into barrels. The trees must be at least four meters tall and have no twists or scars.


The Kitasake project was first mooted in March 2020, immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Sapporo-based Soin de Beaute Co., which distributes natural cosmetics products online under the Sabina brand name, called on breweries across Hokkaido to join the cause and make the best out of a bad situation. So far, Tanaka Sake Brewing Co. in Otaru, Kunimare Sake Brewery Co. in Mashike and Takasagoshuzo Co. in Asahikawa have signed up. Others are also considering answering the call. A 720-ml bottle of Kitasake sells for 30,000 JPY (USD 200), excluding tax. It is available at the Sabina Premium Shop inside the cosmetics maker's main office building in central Sapporo and through its online store. The company first exported Kitasake products to China in 2022 and now has its sights set on the U.S. market.


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Kitasake Brewery:


Tanaka Shuzō:


Kunimare Sake Brewery:


Takasago Shuzō:
 
One Hyogo-based sake brewery landed a veritable PR coup: French actress Eva Green, famous for her roles in the James Bond film "Casino Royale" (2006), "Sin City", and "300", among other works, recently joined seven other people from France to experience the unique sake production process at Tajime Sake Brewery in Asago.

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This was the fourth tour organized by Simeon Molard and Julien Casorla, who run a sake import and wholesale business in France, to learn more about the beverage. The participants came from a variety of professions, including a bookstore owner, a beer brewer and a laboratory technician, but all either love sake or have an interest in it. The brewing experience at Tajime Sake Brewery, known for the local "Chikusen" brand, was set up for three days, two nights as part of a week-long itinerary that included visits to a koji yeast manufacturer and a rice mill.


 
More EU-related sake news: EU officials recently proposed regulations requiring businesses producing or selling alcohol to package at least 10% of their products in reusable or refillable containers. However, Japanese sake faced a potential challenge due to its unique bottle shapes, which differ from wine bottles. Reusing these distinct sake bottles in Europe would have been impractical and costly.

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Sake bottles have different shapes than wine bottles, making them difficult to reuse in Europe.

Tokyo, representing the Japanese government, successfully lobbied for an exception. They argued that applying the recyclable containers requirement to sake would effectively create a non-tariff barrier for sake imports into the EU. As a result, sake has been cleared from the new regulations, allowing it to continue its exports to the common market.


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Following up on the post above, Nikkei had an insightful piece of sake's narrow escape from being banned in the EU, highlighting the difficulty of navigating the complex European trade rules.


"Isn't sake a distilled alcoholic beverage?" Japanese diplomats were stunned by a question from a European Commission official in early January. Sake is brewed, not distilled, from sake rice. The regulation agreed to on March 4 will require makers and sellers of alcoholic beverages to put at least 10% of their products in reusable or refillable containers from 2030. With a push from the U.S. and Italy, final rules were set to exempt wine and distilled spirits like whiskey. Their target was beer, and the treatment of sake had not even come up during discussions. The problem with sake was raised in the fall of 2023 by a Japanese farm ministry official who reread the proposal while working on the Japanese government's mission to the EU. The official realized that if the language were to be taken at face value, sake would be subject to the restriction. Since sake bottles have different shapes than wine bottles, reusing them in Europe would have been difficult. Reuse would have entailed shipping them back to Japan, costing both money and fuel -- seemingly at odds with the intent of the regulation. The EC did not realize that its environmental conservation efforts would lead to sake being singled out. Japan swiftly lobbied for changes, but the EC was reluctant to alter an already-announced proposal.


There are lessons to be learned. Although the draft proposal was released in 2022, the Japanese government and related businesses were slow to realize the implications for sake. For its part, the EU did not adequately consider the scope of its rules and was slow to respond. Although sake managed to escape restrictions, the multilayer film used to package such products as Japanese beef might not. Those exports will become difficult unless producers switch to recyclable packaging by 2030.


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