Keigetsu Sake Nature (30cl)
£16.75
The wine
Enticing aromas of beautifully ripe stone fruit and white blossom. The palate offers well-balanced, pure flavours of juicy pear and peach with an elegant, persistent finish.
Sake Nature is brewed without added yeast, relying on ambient yeasts in the brewery, which is unusual and unpredictable in an industry built on precision. Yamada Nishiki rice, the most prized sake variety, polished to 45%. Keigetsu work in Kōchi prefecture on Shikoku, where the water is exceptionally soft and the local style is dry and clean. This is the 30cl bottle.
The producer
Keigetsu
View all Keigetsu winesKeigetsu is a family owned sake brewery in the mountains of Tosa Reihoku, in Japan's Kōchi Prefecture, making sake since 1877. It is run today by sixth generation head brewer Muneki Matsumoto from the original brewery building, now more than 140 years old. The name evokes the beautiful sight of the moon hanging over the nearby Katsurahama shore.
The sakes are made from organically grown local rice, chiefly Gin no Yume, Yamada Nishiki and the rare table variety Akitsuho. Matsumoto believes his local rice, grown within twelve kilometres of the brewery on terraced paddies at 300 to 600 metres, is perfectly suited to the region. The remote elevation and pure water from the source of the Yoshino River create ideal conditions for premium rice and yuzu alike.
The range is wide and expressive. It runs from the pure, dry Gin no Yume Junmai Daiginjo and the elegant, Kimoto brewed Sake Nature to the crystal clear John Sparkling Sake and the cloudy, tropical Nigori. A savoury Yamahai Junmai adds umami depth, while a vivid yuzu sake, made with hand squeezed Tosa yuzu, offers something quite different.
Precise, characterful and deeply tied to their mountain home, Keigetsu's sakes have earned trophies at the International Wine Challenge and beyond. They reward the curious and pair beautifully with food. This is premium Japanese sake at its very finest.
