Making Junmai daiginjo is a very labor-intensive, not to mention that half the base material is polished away in process, so it’s altogether quite costly to make. There are also strict quality controls involved. Given all of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into it, it’s usually only made in very small quantities and is typically a saké producer’s top tier offering. The style is known for being fragrant and quite delicate, and would typically be paired with similarly delicate foods like sashimi.

Nishide Shuzo, located in the Kaga region, operates with the mantra that “saké brewing is our life.”  They’ve been making handmade sakes with only three employees for five generations. They make this special junmai daiginjo using a unique yeast that was discovered one hundred years ago, giving it the name “100 Year Saké”. This yeast, called kuratsuki kobo (house yeast), only grows within the brewery itself. (saké producers that have been making saké for generations often take pride in their specific yeast.)

The 17th century artwork on the Kutani Yaki porcelain bottle (which is typical of the region) is meant to tell the story that the saké is made using local ingredients. In essence, this is a saké meant to showcase its terroir.

It’s recommended to serve this saké chilled. Pairing recommendations include sushi and dashi rich dishes.

Tasting Notes: Flowers, green melon, peach, cream, and salted lemons. Delicate with a hint of acidity on the finish. 

The Takashimizu brewery was established in 1944 when several small family breweries dating back to 1656 in Akita, Japan came together to form one brewery. They took the name “Takashimizu,” in honor of the hill on which the Akita’s castle had once stood. Shimizu-no-mai is their brand line in the U.S. and they have several different Pure Sakés, with the Pure Night being the top tier. 

Akita is a mountainous region with cold winters, and the water they use for their saké sourced from the point where three rivers carrying this cold mountain water meet and is very pure. They use an artisanal rice, and 65% of the rice is polished away for this bottling, rather that the required 50% described above, with the intent of creating a particularly delicate flavor profile. 

It’s recommended to serve this saké alone or with very delicate foods, as most foods would overpower this saké, masking the feather-light aromatics and flavors. Recommended pairings include sashimi or oysters with caviar.

Tasting Notes: A layer of minerality unfolds with sweet flowers like honeysuckle, green melon, citrus, lychee, and touches of light green herbs.

For another thing, I just really love a big red wine with steak. I know I so often go on and on about how light to medium bodied red wines tend to be the easiest reds to pair, and that’s true, but steak is one of the places I definitely like to bust out the big and the bold! I think I felt like I was missing the opportunity to open one here. 

Ultimately, despite his enthusiasm, I don’t think Drew completely convinced me to put aside the the big reds with future steaks. However, these were both gorgeous sakés (big thanks to Drew for sharing them!) and I will say that they did work much better than I'd expected, particularly the Pure Night. Our friend Selin (one of the other members of our little pod) noted that it resonated with the pepper on the steak and highlighted the flavor, and I agreed with her there. I also thought both sakés worked nicely with the roasted vegetables, in particular the zucchini. So if you're looking for something a little different to go with a steak, particularly if you're accompanying it with veggie sides, saké could be a really fun alternative pairing.

If all of this weren’t already decadent enough, Lucy made this show-stopper of a cake to finish the meal. I guarantee, it was absolutely as good as it looks, if not better. I’m craving another slice all over again as I look at this picture!