Post by Saionji Shonagon on Aug 29, 2009 23:25:21 GMT -5
The Berkeley Target is on this access road parallel to the freeway and I haven't figured out the easiest way to get out once in. So I figured, what the hey, I'll cut through town. Better yet, I'll cut through town and check out the Takara Sake brewery I've been driving past forever and never visited.
Takara bottles the ShoChikuBai brand here in the US, and if you've had sake in a sushi restaurant, you may very well have had a ShoChikuBai sake. Some of their sake can be found in supermarkets here in California pretty readily. They also distribute imports from their parent company in Japan.
As I opened the door at the front of the building, I was hit in the face by the moist smell of Quite A Lot Of Rice Fermenting. (I'm not sure if it's always this strong or it was being magnified by the unusual-for-this-area temperatures we had this weekend.) Up the stairs I went, peering down through a window at the top into a room full of fermentation vats and other equipment. The tasting room/museum is one large industrial space that has been fitted out with cool tile floors and golden Douglas fir woodwork.
I opted to skip the video on sake brewing and went straight to the tasting bar. They offer several tasting flights at a very reasonable $5.00 per flight. The "A" flight consisted of a number of Takara sake that I'm already familiar with. There was a young woman behind the counter serving another couple, so I told her I wanted to try the Ginjo/Junmai Combo flight ("B") when she had a moment. This flight of six sake included several imports I hadn't had before.
Immediately a rather distinguished looking Japanese gentleman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and poured out a cup of their Sho Chiku Bai Premium Ginjo for me. It's a +5 for dryness, but not too dry, quite smooth and clean with fruity notes. It was quite nice on a hot afternoon too.
Next was the Antique. Definitely an OMG! sake, subtle aroma, and dances around the tastebuds doing all sorts of lovely, indescribable things. By this time Distinguished Japanese Gentleman had determined by my reaction to the Antique that I was one happy camper and we were chatting away very contentedly about each pour.
The Organic Nama, another one brewed locally which I've had before and liked, is very smooth, a bit dry (+5) with a very refreshing vegetal quality, definitely nice chilled on a hot afternoon.
The Shirakabegura Tokubetsu Junmai is another I've had before (and didn't realize it was a Takara product at the time). DJG served it at room temperature instead of chilled, the way I've been doing. Another very nice sippin' sake, not too sweet or too dry.
On to the big bottle of Sho Chiku Bai Kinpaku, which my host turned upside down before opening to show me the drift of gold flakes floating inside. Kinpaku are traditionally presented as gifts or enjoyed at celebrations, rather like champagne in the West, hence the gold, which is inert and does nothing flavor wise - it was basically a very smooth, mellow quality sake.
The last, DSG told me, is something of an acquired taste, like bleu cheese, their ShirakabeGura Kimoto. As he described it, kimoto is the way brewers were making sake up until about 100 years ago with a slower fermentation process, which results in more variability in the end result and a somewhat "gamy" character. He made the analogy of the difference between farmed salmon vs. wild and then he poured. I tasted. The kimoto marched onto my tongue and planted a flag of Robustness. It was as complex as the Antique, but in a very different way. The tasting card says "gamy," but that's not right. More like a bold, hearty red after you've been drinking whites. Or a very earthy Scotch, maybe. DSG also said it was one of those sake that shows different qualities at different tasting temperatures.
There's a good description of kimoto brewing and how it differs from the modern brewing process here:
www.sake-world.com/html/more-types-3.html
When I inquired as to the price of the Antique, DSG mercifully informed me, "That one's $55 a bottle" without embarrassing me by reaching for one before I had a chance to say yea or nay. Ouch, but so worth it. I wrote the price down on my tasting card for future reference - you never know, there could be an occasion that calls for it.
The Kimoto is $28. I could be convinced to acquire some of this for Estrella. ;D
I had such a lovely time talking to this man and I'd just had six sake ranging from quite nice to a-freaking-mazing (for the princely sum of $5, no less!) that he said I should come back again soon and try the connosieur flight, accent on SOON as it includes some limited run sake that they may not have again any time soon. I did come home with a bottle of the Shirakabegura Tokubetsu ($16 for 720 ml or $8 for 350 ml) and the Organic Nama ($7.50 for 350 ml).
For information on tours, products and distributors of Takara products in the Us, go to www.takarasake.com/
Takara bottles the ShoChikuBai brand here in the US, and if you've had sake in a sushi restaurant, you may very well have had a ShoChikuBai sake. Some of their sake can be found in supermarkets here in California pretty readily. They also distribute imports from their parent company in Japan.
As I opened the door at the front of the building, I was hit in the face by the moist smell of Quite A Lot Of Rice Fermenting. (I'm not sure if it's always this strong or it was being magnified by the unusual-for-this-area temperatures we had this weekend.) Up the stairs I went, peering down through a window at the top into a room full of fermentation vats and other equipment. The tasting room/museum is one large industrial space that has been fitted out with cool tile floors and golden Douglas fir woodwork.
I opted to skip the video on sake brewing and went straight to the tasting bar. They offer several tasting flights at a very reasonable $5.00 per flight. The "A" flight consisted of a number of Takara sake that I'm already familiar with. There was a young woman behind the counter serving another couple, so I told her I wanted to try the Ginjo/Junmai Combo flight ("B") when she had a moment. This flight of six sake included several imports I hadn't had before.
Immediately a rather distinguished looking Japanese gentleman appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and poured out a cup of their Sho Chiku Bai Premium Ginjo for me. It's a +5 for dryness, but not too dry, quite smooth and clean with fruity notes. It was quite nice on a hot afternoon too.
Next was the Antique. Definitely an OMG! sake, subtle aroma, and dances around the tastebuds doing all sorts of lovely, indescribable things. By this time Distinguished Japanese Gentleman had determined by my reaction to the Antique that I was one happy camper and we were chatting away very contentedly about each pour.
The Organic Nama, another one brewed locally which I've had before and liked, is very smooth, a bit dry (+5) with a very refreshing vegetal quality, definitely nice chilled on a hot afternoon.
The Shirakabegura Tokubetsu Junmai is another I've had before (and didn't realize it was a Takara product at the time). DJG served it at room temperature instead of chilled, the way I've been doing. Another very nice sippin' sake, not too sweet or too dry.
On to the big bottle of Sho Chiku Bai Kinpaku, which my host turned upside down before opening to show me the drift of gold flakes floating inside. Kinpaku are traditionally presented as gifts or enjoyed at celebrations, rather like champagne in the West, hence the gold, which is inert and does nothing flavor wise - it was basically a very smooth, mellow quality sake.
The last, DSG told me, is something of an acquired taste, like bleu cheese, their ShirakabeGura Kimoto. As he described it, kimoto is the way brewers were making sake up until about 100 years ago with a slower fermentation process, which results in more variability in the end result and a somewhat "gamy" character. He made the analogy of the difference between farmed salmon vs. wild and then he poured. I tasted. The kimoto marched onto my tongue and planted a flag of Robustness. It was as complex as the Antique, but in a very different way. The tasting card says "gamy," but that's not right. More like a bold, hearty red after you've been drinking whites. Or a very earthy Scotch, maybe. DSG also said it was one of those sake that shows different qualities at different tasting temperatures.
There's a good description of kimoto brewing and how it differs from the modern brewing process here:
www.sake-world.com/html/more-types-3.html
When I inquired as to the price of the Antique, DSG mercifully informed me, "That one's $55 a bottle" without embarrassing me by reaching for one before I had a chance to say yea or nay. Ouch, but so worth it. I wrote the price down on my tasting card for future reference - you never know, there could be an occasion that calls for it.
The Kimoto is $28. I could be convinced to acquire some of this for Estrella. ;D
I had such a lovely time talking to this man and I'd just had six sake ranging from quite nice to a-freaking-mazing (for the princely sum of $5, no less!) that he said I should come back again soon and try the connosieur flight, accent on SOON as it includes some limited run sake that they may not have again any time soon. I did come home with a bottle of the Shirakabegura Tokubetsu ($16 for 720 ml or $8 for 350 ml) and the Organic Nama ($7.50 for 350 ml).
For information on tours, products and distributors of Takara products in the Us, go to www.takarasake.com/