2010 Okamura Honke Choujyu Kinkame Cha 70
I dig this label…..it reminds me of a playing card and I want it on a t-shirt……and I want it in my belly.
Only 8 of Japan’s 47 prefectures are not bordered by sea or ocean and Shiga is one……though it does have the mighty Lake Biwa….Japan’s largest inland lake which accounts for one sixth of Shiga’s total area……and it is in the Shiga prefecture that you will find the Okamura Honke kura…..established in 1854.
The kura is located in Toyosato on the Eastern side of Lake Biwa….here the pure water flows down from the mountains to feed the lake and they use this water to produce their Sake. The current Kuramoto is the seventh generation, Masa Okamura.
Shiga is home to many small kura and Okamura Honke is known for its small batch brews. A batch of Sake is know as a Shikomi…and at the Okamura Honke kura the Shikomi as kept below 900kg of rice per fermentation tank…..sometimes going down to as low as 500kg.
For the Choujyu Kinkame Cha 70 (Cha means brown and represents the colour of the bottle), the jura will only make one or two tanks in total from locally grown rice.
This particular Sake is designated Junmai Muroka Name Genshu…..Junmai = 100% pure rice Sake, Muroka = unfiltered, Nama = Unpasteurised and Genshu = undiluted.
It is produced from a locally grown table rice called Nihonbare which is polished to 70%. The alcohol is 17%, the acidity 1.7 and it is recommended that the 2010 Okamura Honke Chojyu Kinkame Cha 70 be served chilled.
Pale straw in the glass with vibrant, fragrant aromas of pure rice, green bean, sea spray, mushroom broth, dashi and hints of a woody…..cedary aroma poking through along with a light toffee note.
On the palate the Sake shows great concentration and intensity…..it has a rounded, plump mouthfeel but a fantastic pure acid line and rich umami tinged finish……pure, dreamy ricey flavours intermingle with daikon, brine, sugar snap peas, light cedar and caramel notes with just a hint of estery goodies and freshly sliced fennel.
Great drinking.
Price: $79 – Closure: Screwcap – Alcohol: 17% – Source: Tasting – Importer: Black Market Sake
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