The “Beau-Zone” Layer – Takenotsuyu Hakuro Suishu “Winter Water”
From Yamagata Prefecture.
Junmai Daiginjo
SMV: +1 Acidity: 1.2
In the Academy Award Winning Motion picture “Talladega Nights – The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” the antagonist French Formula 1 driver kisses Ricky Bobby on the lips and declares that he “Tastes like America,” and this sake is almost like that without the kissing. One of my longest sake industry friendships is with a Yamagata sake brewery owner by the name of Masao Aisawa, who is a great guy with a great family, and stays at my house each SAKE DAY weekend. He is my buddy! So, I like to say that this outstanding sake tastes like friendship to me. I can picture his brewery, his rice fields, the milling station, and the koji room when I take a sip, and to me it epitomizes Yamagata sake that is flavorful and silky in feeling. That’s a pretty bold statement to say that one brew epitomizes an entire sake-making prefecture, but I will stand by my words. It doesn’t drink like Niigata, it doesn’t drink like Akita, and it surely doesn't drink like Ishikawa, Kochi, Saga, or Hyogo brews either. It is liquid Yamagata and I’ll stand by that. (You can ask Masao-san himself at SAKE DAY’24 if he has ever seen Talladega Nights, or if his sake can be called prototypical Yamagata-style sake.)