The Nikkei newspaper features a new product sold by wine importer and retailer 21 Community in Minato Ward, Tokyo – a Chilean wine called Gin no Shizuku (ぎんの雫, Goutte d’Argent) made with sake yeast. There are very few wines made with sake yeast. The wine is on sale in Mitsukoshi’s flagship Nihonbashi store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, and available in restaurants.
The wine is brewed for a long time at low temperatures, 10°C and below, which provides it with powerful umami. It also has a touch of the sweetness and ginjō aromas (吟醸香) characteristic of sake. Made in two varieties from white Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay grapes, both retail for JPY 2,980.
The brewer is Frenchman Pascal Marty, who used Japanese Brewing Association No. 7 yeast to ferment at lower than usual temperatures for wine. Low temperatures increase the fermentation period by around 15 days to a total of 40 to 110 days. Marty noted that this extra time resulted in increased umami.
The name and bottle label were supervised by Shin Kibayashi, author of the popular wine manga “Drops of God”.
Links
- Original article (Japanese, Nikkei Newspaper, 15 November 2019)
Want Japanese sake news straight to your inbox?
The translations/summaries of Japanese language news articles and other content provided on this site are part of a personal project to increase the amount of information about Japanese sake available in English.
Coverage of an organisation, product or event does not in any way imply approval or endorsement.
All translations/summaries and other content are © 2017-2021 Arline Lyons.