Fukuju “Blue” Junmai Ginjo

It was the second bottle I tried among Tippsy Sake’s second Seasonal Box of 6 sake. “Blue” bottle has UV protection to avoid aging the sake since freshness is the key for this particular one….. Does it sound odd enough to you?  Yes, even in Japan, we said sake should’ve been consumed fresh until recent years, however, many breweries started making sake to be aged lately for reasons. Tippsy Sake recommends only cold temperature (at 40 – 60F) for this sake.

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Water matters? 

“Miyamizu” – Shrine Water

Miyamizu is hard water, which is said to be suitable for sake brewing (it says), welling up in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo. It was discovered in the later stage of the Edo Period, has since the Meiji Period. I would like to bring up a question to all sake lovers and connoisseurs. Hard water has faster fermentation process than soft water. However, Yamadanishiki, the king of sake rice to make beautiful ginjo and daiginjo sake, has a feature to be tolerated to ginjo’s slow fermentation. How can “Miyamizu” water make the best Yamadanishiki daiginjo sake? I will offer a gift card for my Curbside if someone gives me the perfect answer to it please!

Anyway the high minerals (180mg / liter) and fruitiness in this approachable sake make the taste unique, which can be compared to Chablis and Meursault wines.

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Vessel

I don’t often use wine glasses to drink sake anymore. But I used Riedel Chardonnay glass for it as Tippsy’s recommendation. It brought up apricot and tropical fruit aroma from the glass to enjoy it more than that from sake cups.

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Pairing

This sake is also very versatile, but I would like you to try Fukuju Blue at cold temperature in Riedel Chardonnay glass with fresh oysters, pan fried sole in lemon butter sauce, and pan seared scallop in brown butter sauce, envisioning a banquet dinner at Novel Prize where it was served for several years.

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Would you try it and share your opinion with me? Let’s discuss at “General Discussion” in “Forum” page.

Kanpai!

-Youji