alcohol. What futsu-shu lacks in depth, it makes up for with easy, no-nonsense drinkability. There are exceptions: Japan’s National Tax Agency can designate a junmai-shu as futsu-shu if it’s made from low-grade rice, even if it doesn’t have added alcohol. Moreover, if the sake is made with less than 15 percent koji, it will be categorized as futsu-shu.
Honjozo-shu 本醸造酒: Literally meaning “true brewed sake,” honjozo is made from rice, koji, yeast, water and a limited percentage of high-proof alcohol which is added at the tail end of the fermentation process. The rice used in honjozo-shu must have a polishing ratio of at least 70 percent, meaning that 30 percent of the grain is milled or polished away. The added alcohol helps retain aromas, as scents easily glom onto ethanol, and it also results in a brew that is lighter, milder and easier to drink. The added alcohol also helps fortify and preserve the sake during storage.
Well-Polished Sake
During the 20th century, better milling machines meant lower polishing ratios, which made super-premium sake possible.
Ginjo-shu 吟醸酒: At least 40 percent of the rice must be polished, leaving 60 percent of the grain. Ginjo sake is made from rice, koji, yeast, water and brewer’s alcohol unless it’s junmai ginjo-shu, which doesn’t have added booze. Ginjo sake is famous for its fruity or floral fragrances. For more on ginjo-shu, see pages 18–19.
Daiginjo-shu 大吟醸酒: Dai means “great” or “big,” and Daiginjo is the apex of ginjo. At least 50 percent of each grain is polished, generally resulting in brews that are even more aromatic (and expensive!) than regular ginjo-shu. Daiginjo-shu is made from rice, koji, yeast, water and added brewer’s alcohol, unless it’s a junmai daiginjo-shu, in which case the alcohol content is purely from rice.
Note that daiginjo and ginjo are typically brewed at lower temperatures of around 54°F (12°C). This slows the fermentation to up to five weeks, resulting in a sake with low acidity and fruity aromas. Unless specified as junmai, ginjo and daiginjo sakes have added alcohol.
If you have any doubt about how much respect honjozo deserves, the country’s most famous toji Naohiko Noguchi is famed for his excellent honjozo brews. For the tasting note, see page 221.
Made with Kumamoto yeast, Kouro Ginjo is a classic ginjo sake. Check out the tasting note on page 219.
Not-So-Well-Polished Sake
Before the 1930s, when vertical rice polishing machines were invented, sake rice didn’t have the low polishing ratios achieved today. Milling removes fats and proteins that add flavor to rice. Through the 20th century until now, brewers have pushed polishing ratios lower and lower to isolate the starchy core of the grain known as the shinpaku (lit. “white heart”), which makes for easy koji production. The outer layers of the grain produce more body, but their compounds can be responsible for unwanted off-flavors. On the other hand, they also retain the taste of the rice, making for sake that is rich, heavy and acidic.
The tricky part of making sake with less-polished rice is pulling off the necessary balancing act. Typically, depending on the rice variety, breweries may decide they need to polish the rice more so that the koji spores can work their way into the grain. With softer rice, that might not be necessary, as spores can penetrate even if the grains have been barely polished. Then, the fermentation times and yeast varieties will further affect the final flavors. Just because a sake has a high polishing ratio doesn’t mean it’s low quality or inexpensive; likewise, a low polishing ratio doesn’t always ensure great sake. The barely polished brews are some of the most difficult sakes to make.
Tomita Shuzo, a 460-year-old brewery in Shiga famous for its Shichinoyari brand, has been conducting an interesting experiment. Its award-winning Junmai Wataribune 77% is made with local Wataribune rice, a relative of which was crossbred to make Yamada Nishiki, the top sake rice. Wataribune has been grown in Shiga for over 100 years, but by the 1960s, when Japan’s population was growing rapidly, low-yielding rice like Wataribune was replaced by new easier-to-grow high-yielding varieties, like Koshihikari, Japan’s favorite table rice. “Shiga-grown Wataribune has a large, starchy core, but it’s not clearly defined like Yamada Nishiki,” says Yasunobu Tomita, the brewery’s 15th-generation owner. “Because of that, it’s easy to impart the distinctive character of the rice to the sake.”
Tomita Shuzo, which uses a handful of rice varieties, began brewing with Wataribune in 2008. It’s very soft and not an easy rice to use, apt to pick up more nuka (rice bran) during polishing compared to other rice varieties. Tomita must take extra care while washing to make sure all the clingy bran is gone, to make sure that no off-flavors will emerge during fermentation.
Located in Shiga Prefecture, Tomita Shuzo’s famous brand is Shichihonyari or “Seven Spearsmen,” after the seven heroic leaders in the Battle of Shizugatake, fought nearby in 1583. The brewery, however, is older than that legendary battle. It is located on the Hokkoku Kaido road, an important route frequented by merchants and samurai.
THE BIRTH OF PREMIUM GINJO AND DAIGINJO SAKE
Say “premium sake,” and immediately ginjo leaps to mind. The kanji for gin (吟) in “ginjo” is the same as that in ginjiru, meaning “to chant” or “to recite” as in a poem. However, the “gin” in “ginjo” is actually derived from the word ginmi (吟味), meaning “scrutinize.” For example, ginjo pioneer Kokuryu Sake Brewery in Fukui has long had the motto ginmi shite kamosu or “scrutinize and brew.” The character jo (醸) in “ginjo” is from jozo (醸造), or “brew.”
The word “ginjo” emerged in the late 1800s. Researcher Goro Kishi, who laid the foundation for the quick fermentation starter known as sokujo-moto, first mentioned the term “ginjo” in print with his 1894 book Shuzou no tamoshibi (The lamp of sake brewing). By the end of the century, several dozen breweries were using the “ginjo” designation to denote special competition brews that weren’t for public consumption, iron-branding ginjo on casks to indicate sake “brewed with care.” There were other terms, however, to convey excellence. According to antique expert Alan Scott Pate’s book Kanban: Traditional Shop Signs of Japan, words like gokinjo (superior quality) and daigokinjo (best quality) were also used in Meiji-period advertising to denote excellent sake.
However, that early ginjo sake was quite different from today’s ginjo, which is determined by a polishing ratio of at least 60 percent, which was first codified in 1975 within the sake industry. Later, the Japanese government legally standardized the ginjos in 1990 (along with official definitions for junmai and honjozo). This polishing ratio only became possible after the early 1930s, when high-tech vertical rice-milling machines were developed that could burnish away half the grain. World War II and the ensuing rice shortages, however, slammed the brakes on any further ginjo development. The war, fueled by booze taxes, led to the development and expansion of sake made with additives other than rice.
