Top TEN List – The 10 Best Sakes For The Riedel Junmai Glass

The Riedel Junmai Glass is nothing less than awesome! It is a vessel perfectly crafted to bring out the most aroma and umami flavors of certain Junmai sakes. Of course the category is large, but it is a special tool for a large segment of Junmai sakes that are grand and verbose in nature. These sakes benefit the most by having their umami impact highlighted and magnified by a very intelligent glass. It has been tested by countless professionals, but the ultimate test is if it works for you! And guess what? You don’t need the Riedel Junmai Glass to enjoy these ten sake, because they are stunningly fantastic on their own:

10) Gunma Izumi Yamahai Junmai

• This Yamahai has all of the funk without the junk! Meaning it is rich and robust, but very smooth and controlled in the palate.

9) Yuho “Rhythm of The Centuries” Kimoto Junmai

• Dreams do come true for the brewery known as Born! These guys only makes Daiginjo class sake. So the best of their best is pretty damn besty! They always win medals for good reason.

8) Gozenshu 9 Bodai Junmai

• This Junmai that is made using the very ancient “Bodai” method is like a meal in a glass. Lots of flavors, lots of movement, it is a large sake that appeals to big red wine drinkers.

7) Tamagawa Red Label Yamahai Muroka Nama Genshu

• The maker of this sake is dedicated to all that funk that makes sake superb and oh so different than wine. This brew is big, bad, bombastic, and looking for your adventurous glass.

6) Tedorigawa Yamahai Junmai

• This Yamahai from Ishikawa prefecture is one of those classic brews that is talked about for all of the right reasons. It is rice through and through with great acidity and a richness that makes you stand up and yell Yamahai-Yes!

5) Shiritaki Jozen Noujun Uonuma Junmai 80%

• This velvety Junmai that was milled only to 80% is a celebration of umami and rice. Round, fat, chewy and fun it is a great reminder that sake is not a rice “wine” as in a grape juice, but all rice and water!

4) Katafune “Lagoon Boat” Junmai Genshu

• This “genshu” (17%) is classic example of a chunky and beefy sake speaking to judges and getting gold medal after gold medal at the IWC. It is fat, round and smooth with layers and layers of rich flavors on a flow that chugs through the palate.

3) Narutotai Mizu to Kome “Water and Rice” Junmai Genshu

• This Junmai is a celebration of rice and water! It is a super smooth and silky sake that coats the palate and leaves flavor bombs all over the place. A truly unique sake that cuts to the chase and reminds you that you’re drinking just rice and water!

2) Dewatsuru Kimoto Junmai

• This traditionally pole-rammed sake is a great collection of roasted, ricey, and coco flavors on a very balanced flow. Smooth, round, creamy, fat, rich and very velvety it takes sake to new levels of rice appreciation.

1) Tengumai “Dance of the Demon” Yamahai Junmai

• This is one of those sakes that has defined a generation of sake drinkers who are looking for a home in Yamahai sakes. It is the prototypical wet-dog and super funk Junmais that holds the key to the best rich and robust flavors found in rice and water.