Miwatari Junmai Karakuchi [1 Koku - 66]

Lovely backstory to this sake, made by Toshimaya Sake Company in Nagano Prefecture's Okaya City, on the shores of Lake Suwa.

So, Lake Suwa is fed by a natural hot spring, so that when the surfaces freezes in the winter, the water below is still warm and circulating. Due to temperature differentials between night and day, surface and underneath, the ice expands and contracts, cracking with loud noises, and forming these ridges overnight, as seen in the photo above. The legend though is that this ice formation is caused by a god crossing (Miwatari - God's Crossing) the lake to visit the goddess of the Suwa-Taisha, a Shinto shrine more than 1200 years old.


The label on this export product (the domestic karakuchi has a different design) is based on azaleas, the city flower, floating on the waves of Lake Suwa. A couple of the other products from Toshimaya sport this label, but in different colours. I don't know about you, but I find the label very attractive.

That's a lot of info, and not a word about the sake! So! Shin-miyama-nishiki rice milled to 65%, brewed with the nonfoaming variant of #7 yeast, SMV +4, acidity 1.4, amino acidity 1.5, and 15.5% abv. Mild ricey aroma. Very clean, crisp and dry, with clear rice flavours and a touch of evergreen. Pretty tasty.