The 2021 Fine Sake Awards Japan

A Contest for the Best Sake to Enjoy in a Wine Glass

On April 19, the judges of the 11th Fine Sake Awards Japan 2021, one of Japan’s biggest sake competitions, announced the winners.

261 breweries from across Japan, bringing more than 1,000 unique products, competed in the competition for awards in the following five categories:

Main
Sparkling Sake
Premium Daiginjo
Premium Junmai
Premium Sparkling Sake

Each competing product was graded by the judges on a seven-step scale via a blind sensory test.

Saito Shuzo Sake Brewing Company won 2 awards

Saito Shuzo won 2 awards: a Grand Gold Medal in the Premium Junmai Category and a Gold Medal in the Premium Daiginjo Category.

The two winning products are the Eikun Junmai Ginjo Koto Sen Nen (英勲純米吟醸古都千年) and the Eikun Junmai Daiginjo Izutsuya Ihei Iwaimai 35 (英勲純米大吟醸井筒屋伊兵衛三割五分磨き).

Koto Sen Nen Junmai Ginjo- Saito Shuzo

The Premium Junmai Category – Grand Gold Medal

The Koto Sen Nen is one of Saito Shuzo’s most well-loved signature products. This is the 3rd consecutive year that this sake has won the Grand Gold Medal award, and the 4th consecutive year it has won an award at the Fine Sake Awards Japan.

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Saito Shuzo

KOTO SEN NEN JUNMAI GINJO

Izutsuyaihei iwaimai35 - Saito Shuzo

The Premium Daiginjo Category – Gold Medal

The Izutsuya Ihei is a unique premium sake brewed using Iwai Mai, a species of sake rice cultivated in Kyoto. Before the rice undergoes fermentation, it is rigorously polished until only 35% of it remains, creating a sake with an opulent fragrance and elegant flavours.

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Saito Shuzo

IZUTSUYAIHEI IWAIMAI 35%

Why you should drink sake from a wine glass

The Fine Sake Awards Japan is not just a competition about the quality of sake; the expert judges are dedicated to promoting the use of western-style wine glasses as a sake drinking vessel to a greater audience.

Today, a variety of Japanese cuisines can be found all over the world, allowing for Japanese sake to interact with foods and food culture from other countries. These interactions have made it possible for people outside of Japan to enjoy sake and discover novel sake and food pairings that have not yet been made mainstream in Japan.

Among the best discoveries were the advantages of drinking sake using a western-style wine glass. With a crystal-clear wine glass, one can savor not only a sake’s flavours and aroma, but also its aesthetic beauty.

A wine glass’s shape also allows for the expression of delicate aromas that cannot be detected using traditional Japanese sake vessels. Furthermore, it is possible to see the colour tones and viscosity unique to sake through the clear bottom of the wine glass. Simply decanting sake from an ochoko cup to a wine glass reveals brand new facets of the sake.

Wine glasses help to shine a spotlight on sake’s refined aromas and draw out the best of sake’s hidden appeals. If you are interested in trying sake in a wine glass, why not try Saito Shuzo’s two winning products? Both the Eikun Junmai Ginjo Koto Sennen and the Eikun Junmai Daiginjo Izutsuya Ihei 35 have excellent affinities with wine glasses, and they are currently served at many restaurants in BC.