Sake Junmai Uroko Yamahai - 72cl

Sake Junmai Uroko Yamahai is a sake of remarkable breadth and structure, produced by Shimazaki Shuzo through prolonged aging in the fascinating underground caves of the sakagura. The term 'Yamahai' refers to a type of Kimoto method, a traditional practice used in the preparation of fermentation starter, called 'shubo', which excludes continuous stirring. In fact, until the early 1900s, it was thought that in order to promote the breakdown of the complex sugars contained in rice into simple sugars, it was necessary to reduce the shubo rice to a paste. For this purpose, the starter was therefore stirred with long sticks for hours. In reality, this operation, called 'Yamaoroshi', is not necessary as the enzymes of the Koji mushroom are able to break down the starch independently of stirring.

Shimazaki Shuzo Sake Uroko Yamahai Junmai consists of a blend of rice of the prized Akitakomachi and Asahinoyume varieties, polished to a 55% degree of huskiness. The rice is combined with water from the cold Nakagawa aquifer while the subsequent fermentation process takes place according to the Kimoto method, specifically following the Yamahai practice. In this view, lactic acid is produced spontaneously by the indigenous lactic acid bacteria in the starter, which, as mentioned, is not mixed. The yeast used is yeast No. 5, developed by sakagura itself from yeast No. 7. After fermentation, the sake is initially aged at room temperature for 7-8 months and then for 18-24 months in sakagura's cool underground caves.

The ageing process that Shimazaki Shuzo's Sake Junmai Yamahai Uroko undergoes gives us a sake with a straw-yellow colour. The nose has persuasive notes of cereals, ripe fruit, sweet spices and small pastries. Round and creamy, warm and structured on the palate, with an umami finish of great impact.