2010 Ine Mankai Mukai Shuzo
This particular sake comes from Kyoto Prefecture….just near the skinny waist of the island of Honshu with the Tanba highlands at its centre, roughly dividing the Prefecture into two distinct climatic zones. To the North it faces the sea of Japan so maritime influences come into play…… to the South it faces towards Osaka and the climate is more continental.
The Mukai brewery is located in the village of Ine, right on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the far North of the Prefecture. The venerable Mukai brewery has a long history…founded in 1754, the company hangs “Sugidama” (a ball made of cedar branches the natural color change of which, signifies the ideal brewing period for the sake), in front of the building as a symbol of their sake brewing skill.
The funky thing here is the Toji at the Mukai brewery is one of the few women Toji’s in Japan…..Kuniko is the eldest daughter of the brewery owner (Kuromoto), Yoshihisa Mukai.
What we have in front of us is a red rice sake….the main rice used is Gohyakuman Goku widely regarded as the top sake rice in terms of quality, polished down to 70% and a rare variety of red rice is added in small quantities…..this is a result of the constant experimentation that Kuniko does at the brewery, refining and rejigging the sakes for release in minuscule amounts.
This is a Junmai Hiire Genshu sake …Junmai = Pure rice sake, so just rice, water & koji…more body and richer in flavour and aromas….Hiire + Pasteurization to make it more shelf stable…Genshu = undiluted. It is recommended that the Ine Mankai be served chilled.
Subdued plum/rose in the glass with enchanting aromas of bright rice, spice, pomegranate, red fruits, olive tapenade with some light smokey wafts floating through the picture.
On the palate it shows pleasing complexity with pure rice and red fruits….some cherry, redcurrant with light plum and raspberry notes wrapped up in a smooth, slightly smokey haze with hints of spice and pomegranate again showing their heads. Quite fruity tasting but not overtly so with plenty of pure rice flavours coming through in the mouth. The finish is slightly sweet and that spicy, smoky sheen flows through the back palate with a lingering gaze. Fascinating drinking.
Price: $112 – Closure:Screwcap – Alcohol: – 14% – Source: Wine Bar – Importer: Black Market Sake
"Make mine a red rice sake thank you bar-keep!"
Hi Dave
lovin the blog. Fascinated by the sakes but don’t have much experience with them. Could you tell me please:
– do you use traditional vessels or wine glasses when you imbibe your sake?
– do they evolve in the glass the way a wine does?
– is fresh always best or are there some which get better with age?
– how long does a bottle last after opening?
Much appreciated and keep up the fully sick work.
Andries.
Hey Andries!
I’ve been drinking the sake from Riedel Bordeaux glasses and they do evolve in the glass….not sure about the amount of time they would last after being opened as they never seem to last that long around my house!
I reckon if you want to enjoy the sake in the way the brewer intended it to be consumed, drink it young. There are some aged sake’s being released, some aged at low temperatures so not too many tertiary characters…it would be great to experiment with some aging though.
Cheers
Dave
Hi Andries.
Thought we’d chip in some info about sake also. We’re loving Dave’s blog too, great wine reviews and great to see someone doing sake reviews as they are hard to find.
We’d definitely suggest drinking sake out of glassware. The aroma & flavour can be appreciated like wine when you have sake in a glass rather than the smaller traditional vessels. Any wine glass if great, we often use a stemless wine glass, because you get the advantage of it being in glass but also the sensation of holding it in your hand like the traditional vessels. Best of both worlds! Particularly when you start drinking quality sake (rather than the stuff you’d skull) you want it in a vessel that you can see the colour, swirl to experience the aromas and also something where the flavour is not affected by the vessel.
Many sakes are made to be drunk fresh, but one of the things we are trying to open peoples eyes to is that there are some great examples of aged (koshu) sake. We have one that is 35 years old and it’s an absolute cracker. Rich burnt toffee flavours with lovely bright acidity. Another favourite is a 1999 Kijoshu (noble brew) sake that can easily replace sitting down with a port or fortified at the end of a meal. To age sake, you want to look for a sake with good acidity so that it will age well (many sakes will not age well) or look for a sake called koshu because you know then it has been specifically aged. Like wine, sake needs to be the right quality to age.
In regards to having bottles of sake open, this is another area we are trying to change peoples expectations. People have always said it needs to be consumed in a couple of days, but it often comes down to the style and quality. If it is a lighter, fresher sake, we would suggest not having them open too long, but our lightest sake we would still say you can easily have open for weeks (rather than days). Up to the koshu sakes being absolutely fine for many, many months. We have had a bottle of the 1976 and the 1999 open for over 6 months now and they are drinking the same as when we opened them. Sake doesn’t oxidise like wine, you may find the flavour will change once opened, and can sometimes loose it’s freshness, but it will tend to be ‘ricier’ rather than bad, and you’ll always have time to finish it before this happens!