SAKE DAY – Some Fun Updates From Director Mei Ho About SD’24

Howdy All! This is a quick update from Mei and Beau about some of the wonderful things that you can enjoy this 19th Anniversary of SAKE DAY. 

First and foremost, SAKE DAY 2024 is LOADED with sake! If you exercise some control (spit like crazy) you will be able to partake in almost 400 different sakes from over 100 different producers. This is the most sake offered in our 19-year history, and the quality is off the charts. 

In a word, the point of SAKE DAY is to think while you drink and really explore a ton of sake from all over Japan and the globe. This is your best chance to get to explore a range of sake from all price points, categories, and origins made by the best brewers in the sake industry. 

And that leads us to the next point and perhaps the best aspect of SAKE DAY, and that is the makers themselves! But Toji’s aren’t the only ones who can speak sake, as the owners of breweries (who aren’t Tojis), and employees of these breweries can share with you the stories and the passion of why and how each sake is made. This “exchange of information” is what sets SAKE DAY apart from the rest! 

So in a sense it’s also about tasting knowledge, and this year we have a ton of brewers and very smart sake souls. 

One of these passionate makers is Blake Richardson from moto-i who is actually the winner of SAKE DAY’24 “International Sake Soul of the Year Award” and will be pouring his pioneering craft sake while welcoming you as you enter SAKE DAY. Another passionate sake soul is Daijiro Hosaka from the Shirataki Sake Brewery in Niigata, who will talk you through their donation of the Ultra Junmai Daiginjo “SEVEN,” which is this year’s Welcome Sake, and he will also be pouring an entire new line of “SEVEN” at his table. 

By no means is this the whole list, but here are some highlighted brewers who have come to SAKE DAY before or this is their first visit, and you should make a point to say hello, welcome them, and taste their awesome wares: (In no particular order)

• Koichi Saurura – Urakasumi
• Shigeki Tonoike – Tonoike
• Shigenori Takeda – Katafune
• Masao Aisawa – Take no Tsuyu
• Masanobu Shindo – Gasanryu
• Hiroyuki Karahashi – Homare
• Keisuke Kondo – Kondo 
• Ryusuke Honda – Tatsuriki
• Mr. Yumoto – Yuki Otoko
• Masahiro Minakata – Minakata

There are also two very important French Champagne makers who are now very important sake makers in their own right – Regis Camus from HEAVENSAKE and Richard Geoffroy from IWA 5. They are both incredibly kind, smart, and interesting men who are on similar life paths within the sake industry, bringing sake to new frontiers. They are both veterans of SAKE DAY and love the sake scene in the Bay Area. 

And as SAKE DAY expands and becomes more global, we are very proud to inform you that we have a record number of individual Prefecture Government Representatives participating this year. Why is this cool? Because these tables will include many sakes that are not yet available in the US market. In some cases you will be the first westerners tasting these brews, and we are making a future relationship between a brewer, an exporter, an importer, and a distributor to get these sake overseas. 

There are also a bevy of important sake souls who are working tables, and even a few sake souls coming as guests this year – yes, looking at you John Gauntner.   

And this year for the first time Mei will be sending out the floor plan listing each table by name in an email to all ticketed guests of SAKE DAY’24 so you can game plan your approach to your own sake exploration expedition.