If there is a brand that you actually drink and feel delicious, there will be no problem, but if you do not have much knowledge of sake, it is easy to choose if you want to give it as a gift, etc. Isn't it a touch of that?
It is an unavoidable story to collect various information and think it must be delicious because it is a highly rated sake.
However, just because you won a gold medal at various sake competitions evaluated by professionals is not necessarily delicious for you, and it may not always be appreciated by the recipient.
What are the criteria for determining the deliciousness of Japanese sake? You will not know whether you can get a high rating or a high price.
There are various sake contests and appraisals in Japan, but let's consider the taste of sake while introducing the main organizations.
Japanese famous sake assessment organization
There is a nationwide new liquor appraisal as a presence of Japanese sake. Originally known as the Sake Sake Fair, it has a long history of being established in Meiji 40.
Looking at the history, what can be sent from the sake brewery fair 4 years later, a “Review Board” was established for brewers who emphasized the improvement of Japanese sake production technology rather than simply reviewing sake.
It was a great honor to receive an award because it was held by the country and the sake brewer, and it was a great honor to have a great impact on sales. It is said that there was.
Although it was held as a very prestigious tournament, it was not held at the end of Showa 25 year, and only a review meeting for engineers remained, and it is now a situation.
In one organization, attention has been paid only to the high level of technology used in brewing, and since it has become highly evaluated, a situation has arisen in which things that are far from the delicious sake that ordinary people seek are valued. It was.
There is also a story that only Ginjo sake, which was considered technically difficult at the time, was evaluated, and only sweet sake was highly appreciated.
Of course, by evaluating the high level of manufacturing technology, it led to nationwide brewing efforts to wear high technology, creating an opportunity for the creation of brands that overturned common sense. That is for sure.
However, it is meaningless if the drinker who actually spends money is separated. Based on these failures, various groups are currently evaluating sake.
Conditions for sake that can be listed at the appraisal
The organizer has changed from the National New Sake Review in FY Heisei 12 and became an independent liquor research institute, and is now co-sponsored with the Japan Sake Brewery Association Central Association.
Previously, the National Tax Agency Brewing Research Institute was held, and 2,000 companies were carefully selected from about 800 sake breweries nationwide and were exhibited.
Although there were some differences depending on the area, there was a local tournament hosted by the National Tax Agency in each region, and 800, which won there, proceeded to the national tournament, but now there are restrictions It is not provided.
Any brewer can freely participate in a national new sake review. However, the number of sake that each brewer can serve is determined to be 1 per factory that has a brewing license.
In other words, if you are a major manufacturer with many factories (breweries), you can list several sakes at the same time, but if you have a small brewery, you can only buy 1 points or the number of sake you have. You can not exhibit.
Conditions for sake selected as a gold medal
Depending on the host organization, the method of judging varies, but in the case of a well-known organization, there is a “preliminary”, which is like qualifying. Anything that passes this trial will be evaluated as a “winning liquor”. Then, from the prized sake, the final judgment called the final round is conducted, and here the best sake among the prized sake is selected.
The sake selected in the final round will be evaluated as a “gold medal”. The person in charge of the examination is the Liquor Research Institute, the National Tax Agency, the appraisal officer of the National Tax Agency, and the technical personnel of the brewery test site in each prefecture.
Almost all sake professionals, such as sake experts, are reviewing. Each year, about 300 points of sake are awarded, but it is up to each person to feel that this award is high or low.
It is an appraisal that competes for the superiority and inferiority of a single piece of paper in a very delicate sense such as taste and smell, so it must be said that even if you have a professional hand, it is difficult to get a clear result .
In the judging process, the judges will make a good sake and thoroughly examine the quality of the contents, such as whether or not Kaori, taste and fragrance are harmonized.
Scientific analysis is conducted on acidity and fragrance components. Not only is it delicious or bad, but the results of scientific analysis are also quantified and the characteristics and problems of sake produced by each exhibitor are clarified and responded.
Not only does it win and make it famous, but it also responds with information useful for making sake later, so it's no wonder that the breweries that will be exhibited at the appraisals of large organizations are endless.
What is evaluated is whether the sake production technology is high as an “industrial product”
There are many cases where a certain product review event is a place where you see sake as an industrial product and compete for manufacturing technology.
In wine competitions, there is a tendency that in the case of Japanese sake, a deduction system is being examined, in contrast to the attitude of trying to select a better wine with a scoring system.
Since it is evaluated whether it is excellent as a food industry product, it does not lead to an evaluation that “there is a musty odor, but it is a good accent and there is it”.
For this reason, when it comes to “when”, “who” and “where”, it must be said that this is not always the case.
Ginjo incense taste, strength, sweetness, sourness, astringency and bitterness. About 20 items such as beast odor and stuffiness are evaluated by whether the score from 1 to 5 is good or bad. I do not get much.
Judgment does not take into consideration the compatibility with the food that you eat with sake or the ease of drinking, and in what situations will you drink sake?
Of course, there are groups that are judged without considering “marriage” such as what kind of situation they feel is delicious.
In other words, let's think that the sake that won the gold award is sometimes evaluated as a product with high manufacturing technology.
If you want to find a really delicious sake, or if you want to give sake as a gift, you'll want to choose a prize from a contest that is pursuing a “taste index”. The
IWC, SAKE CONPETITION, and sake contests, where the evaluation of the point system is a hot topic like wine, are well-known competitions that take into account user satisfaction.
There are also competitions that evaluate only old sake, and competitions that evaluate by individuality, such as aging alcohol and sparkling, so it is a good idea to refer to the prizes won at those competitions.
There are many sake breweries that are not listed in the competition
There are groups that evaluate as industrial products to the last, but even for major manufacturers, it is a tournament where their manufacturing technology is evaluated, so there are many reasons to exhibit.
There are 30 items on display at the National Sake Review Meeting for the year of 857 of the organization that proves this, and 416 items among them have won the prize. Furthermore, it was the situation that 237 points in the prizes won the gold award.
On the other hand, there are also sake breweries that continue to have a stubborn attitude of not exhibiting at appraisals. There are various reasons, but there is an opinion that if sake or aged sake produced in pursuit of umami is subject to deduction depending on the type of competition, there is no point in listing it.
Some sake breweries specialize in aged sake, and some breweries are focused on other contests rather than organizations that compete for superiority or inferiority of food industry products.
Making sake for customers who really like their liquor and are waiting for fun is the top priority, and there are many brewers who have no time to make sake for contests.
In this situation, it is a big mistake to decide that a sake is not delicious because it has not been listed in a specific competition or because it has not been awarded at a famous competition.
For example, one sake brewery is particular about local production for local consumption, and even if it has not been evaluated and proven as a sake rice, it is a challenge to stick to local rice production.
There are other sake breweries that are trying to challenge pure rice with a brewed alcohol additive that doesn't have the image of being drunk or having a strong sense of cheating.
Depending on the competition, you can enjoy it as a place where you can see challenges to new technologies, but it can be said that it is meaningful enough.
Visit the Sake Fair
When it comes to sake contests, there are many cases where you can compete in “Daiginjo”, where each brewery is made with great care. Daiginjo is a sake that makes the most of whether it rots or becomes liquor.
And many breweries shaved Yamada Nishiki more than half, and Daiginjo sake that poured the best technology and love of the brewery will be exhibited, so it seems that you want to drink what kind of sake at once There are many people.
It is recommended that you go to a so-called “Sake Fair” such as a public sake party.
It is often held in the morning and afternoon 2 club structure, and the number of 1 clubs is about 3,000. An admission fee of 3,500 to 4,000 yen is required, but it is an event that allows you to drink more than 400 points of winning liquor that has passed the preliminary and final judgments at the appraisal meeting.
If you want to experience the challenges of each brewery with your own taste, this is a great event.
It has a full range of events such as a booth that answers simple questions about sake, as well as corners that introduce the sake brewing process.
Private events such as Amazon Bar are also recommended
Some contests and award-winning liquors can only be spoken by members of a specific group or experts, but there are also several private events that are highly regarded as food industry products. There is a possibility that you can get around not only Japanese sake, but also sake that is really delicious.
The representative is an event such as "Amazon Bar". It is a new event that has been held since 2017, and it opens as a bar that can only be held for 6 days only, allowing you to taste more than 700 types of liquor.
What's unique is that the big category is decided first. If you select the most important type from the 4 broad categories of "Adventure", "Innovation", "Popularity", and "Traditional", you will be served at each corner.
When you select the 3 type you want to taste, you can receive a set with 1 types of snacks. All 9 categories have 720 types of liquors and snacks that are suitable for each type of liquor.
By participating in these private events, you will be able to find delicious sake that suits your cuisine, and you will be able to expand your chances of enjoying sake that you think is really delicious.
EC sites like Amazon have so many products that you can get fantastic wines. However, on the other hand, there was a demerit that it was not possible to taste like a local liquor store. Thanks to the fact that these events have been held, it's a great story to have more opportunities to meet new sake.
Summary
How was it.
Sake contests are a situation in which various organizations throughout the country hold sake tastings. However, depending on the content of the competition, there may be a meeting that competes for technological capabilities as an excellent food industry product, so the gold award-winning sake in such a competition is not necessarily a delicious sake that matches you.
Why don't you come and enjoy the sake at a nearby sake tasting event or an event bar opened by a private EC site?
