Japanese Sake List
Information on hundreds of Sakes, including photos of bottles, spec sheets, and brewery information
Niwa no Uguisu Nuruhada Junmai Ginjo
Niwa no Uguisu Nuruhada Junmai Ginjo
Class: Junmai Ginjo
Rice: Yamada Nishiki
Rice-Polishing Ratio: 50%
Brewery Location: Fukuoka
Food Pairings: Strongly seasoned fatty meats or fish, chikuzen-ni (braised chicken and vegetables), miso eggplant, ginger-simmered pike, roast beef, deep fried pork cutlets, and tsukune (chicken meatballs).
Tasting Notes: Naruhada (aka. “to become the body”) is recommended served at body temperature. This Shinshu (aka. “new”) Junmai Ginjo sake is full-bodied, creamy and fruity and smooth on the finish. The nightingale glows on this bottle in a bright yellow/orange hue suggesting its fruity and brilliant balance with food.
Size: 720ml
Location: NY NJ Distribution
Brewery: Yamaguchi Shuzojyou
Founded: 1832
Profile: The largest river in the Kyushu region of Japan is the Chikugogawa. The abundance of pure, clean water in the Chikugo region is said to have given birth to one of the three largest sake-brewing regions in Japan; many breweries were born there. The brewer of Niwa no Uguisu (aka. “Garden's Nightingale”) is Yamaguchi Shuzojo: located in northern Chikugo. The very first brewers of Yamaguchi Shuzojo loved to watch the Japanese nightingales in the garden playing in the water and drinking in the gardens. When the 6th generation family head Yamaguchi Risuke saw this, he made the decision to brew sake using that water.
The Nightingale is colored and positioned differently on every one of the Kura’s 17-20 annually-released sake. Tetsuo Yamaguchi (11th generation) explains “The first generation of sake brewers from my family enjoyed listening to the birds while drinking sake.” The brewery’s motto for their sake is: food comes first; sake comes second. When asked what makes Niwa No Uguisu so special, Tetsuo-san replied, “I can list three things that differentiate us from other breweries: rice, water and people.”
