ニューヨークに出発（本当は5/7に更新したかった・・・）

ご無沙汰しています。

新酒の火入れを済ませ、蔵の掃除も完了。
これで23酒造年度の酒造りが終わりました。
蔵人の皆さん、あらためてお疲れ様でした。

4月末、約７ヶ月ぶりに大阪の自宅に戻りました。
家の裏の山道には、まだ桜の花がちらほらと見えながら、そろそろ
藤も咲き始めています。
いい季節です。

さて、今週から出張でニューヨークに行ってきます。
アメリカの日本酒愛好家が今の日本酒、そして今の玉川をどう見ているのか、
楽しみです。


杜氏
　　フィリップ・ハーパー

March Limited Editions

As we move into the final stages of the season, I find myself staring at a big pile of stuff that has stacked up while I was busy brewing. It is rather after the fact, but here, with apologies, is a list of the limited editions we put out in March

Shipping date---------Batch No.--------------------Product Name
1. March 7th-------------40-----------------------Junmai Nigori (Yamahai)
2. March 14th------------34----------------------Sakura Daiginjo
3. March 14th -----------32----------------------Junmai Daiginjo
4. March 21st------------35----Spontaneous Fermentation Junmaishu (yamahai)
5. March 28th------------37--- Spontaneous Fermentation Kimoto Junmaishu -----------------------------------------------------(stork label)

Comments
１）This is one of those once-a-year items. We release a lightish (by our fairly beefy standards) seasonal nigori in the autumn, but this is a thick, creamy junmai version. Made from a chunky, full-flavoured yamahai, this offers concentrated taste and texture, and I recommend drinking it hot.
２）In a pleasing contrast, our next release was at the opposite extreme. Even our daiginjo class sakes tend to show a little more umami and acidity than is typical for the genre, but this seasonal special (named for the cherry blossoms which are in full bloom as I write) is a little lighter with seasonally correct floral aromatics to enjoy whilst flower-viewing.
３）Our Junmai Daiginjo has solid food-friendly acidity to complement the aromatics, and this is the one chance of the year to sample it in its unpasteurised form, in which those tangy notes are particularly crisp and prominent.
４）This is the fifth (and penultimate) item in our series of Spontaneous Fermentation yamahais made with Kitanishiki rice. This time it is batch 35, which I find to be a solid, well balanced member of this year’s series.
５）Yet another once-a-year offering. One of the driest sakes in the Tamagawa line up, this freshly-pressed expression has the “five flavours” straining and growling at the leash like a pack of hunting dogs. Widely held to be one of our more idiosyncratic products.

All the above are bottled to order just as they came out of the press. If you can find them (some of these products go out in editions of only a few dozen bottles), drink them now to see what newborn sake tastes like, or hold on to them for a few months or years to see what a dash of time does to the mix. Better still, by two bottles and do both.


There is a list of our domestic retail customers here.

http://www.sake-tamagawa.com/shop/index.html

February Limited Editions

Too busy brewing and pressing sake to post information for individual
batches, so I will do the most recent round all at once.

All the following are bottled to our customers' orders, unfiltered, undiluted
and unpasteurised.

Shipping Date--------Batch Number----Product Name
February 15th--------------25 　　　Spontaneous Fermentation Junmai (yamahai)
February 22nd--------------26 Spontaneous Fermentation Junmai (yamahai)
--------------------------------------------(Omachi version)
February 23rd--------------33 "Untouched" (Iwai version)
February 24th--------------30 Junmai Ginjo Iwai (Yamahai)
February 27th--------------31 Daiginjo


The yamahai of batch 25 is the fourth in the series made with Kitanishiki rice
this season. All the others are once-a-year rarities, so look for them sooner rather than later.

Extreme sake

When I joined Tamagawa five years ago, the Kuramoto (brewery owner) asked me for new ideas and new directions. We have since developed a whole range of additions to the Tamagawa line-up, making for an exceptionally diverse portfolio. Of the various new products, the Spontaneous Fermentation Junmai (a yamahai made without using pure yeast cultures) which we make using Kitanishiki brewer's rice has proved to be the single most popular. Of all the products we make, this has had the highest number of batches for the last couple of seasons. We ship “3U” limited editions of each batch as it is pressed, and have already sent four different versions on their way into the world as we reach the half-way point in this season.

Yeast at the limits.
Brewing science orthodoxy tells us that sake yeast begins to die off when it reaches over 18% alcohol, but our Spontaneous Fermentation junmai brews regularly reach 20%. About three years ago, we had this conversation when the Kuramoto joined us brewers for a drink at the supper table.

“We don't think anything of it now, but 20% alcohol is actually quite amazing.”
“Yes, and we are pressing while the yeast is still pretty lively.”
“I wonder how far it could actually go?”
“Well, let's ferment one batch as far as it will go and find out.”

So, two seasons ago, we let Batch 32 have its head, and watched it bubble and seethe for a full thirty-five days (we normally press this kind of sake at about the three-week mark, with a SMV of about +3). It cruised to an SMV of +14, and an extraordinary 21.5% alcohol. Due to an exceptionally hot summer, last year's rice was very hard and alcohol yields were very low, so even our extreme-fermenting batch stopped short of 21%. This year's contender is Batch 24, which we mashed at the end of December, and have just pressed. SMV is up at +14 again, and this year we reached 21.2% alcohol – so the original record still stands.

Our “White Label” drinks much more gently than its fearsome statistics suggest, so we recommend drinking with extra caution. Though plenty of White Label fans love to drink it straight, the faint-hearted may like to try it over ice, or cut with about thirty percent mineral water. At this snowy time of year, o-yu-wari (cutting with hot water) is also a heart-warming option. For those with space and patience, this is also a great sake to age at home for a few months or years.

This year’s White Label went out to selected domestic retailers on February 8th. Find it if you dare.

Catching up: January's limited editions

With the brewing season about halfway, we are having trouble keeping up with our own limited editions. Since the “Untouched” No.18 with which we opened the New Year, we have shipped three further limited editions, bottled to order just as they were pressed.

Batch No.19, “3U” Spontaneous Fermentation Junmaishu.
Round four of our popular yamahai series, straining at the leash with the usual uncompromising package of juicy acidity and chunky umami.

Batch No. 14, “3U” Junmai Ginjo Omachi.
Second outing for our Omachi series. Brewed with the classic No.9 yeast. Rather than the floral aromatic displays currently fashionable, we keep the top notes to a quiet level of organic fruit and grasses, allowing the flavour-in-the mouth its moment in the spotlight as it surges across the palate. This is the last chance for unpasteurised, unfiltered, undiluted Omachi in the junmai ginjo class until April.

Batch 16, “3U” Tokubetsu Junmaishu.
Made from Gohyakumangoku brewer’s rice polished in-house to 60%, and the stalwart No.7 yeast. Though acidity levels are similar to those of the Spontaneous Fermentation yamahais, amino acids come in rather lighter, making for a crisp, sharply defined brew. This season’s only limited edition in this class.

All the above were bottled to our customers’ orders. Snap them up if you can find them.

For us brewers, February brings the daunting period when we have to mash our second cycle of daiginjo at the same time as pressing the first. Limited edition bottlings this month will be a yamahai carnival, as we ship various Spontaneous Fermentation offerings, including several once-a-year rarities.

Philip Harper
Master Brewer