So for anyone who didn’t know, Lamy’s had a partnership with Meiri Shurui (a sake brewery in Ibaraki) since 2021, and together they've released a few limited runs of sake under the brand “Yuki-Yo-Zuki." Translation notes, sake terminology, and extra context below.
NOTES:
0:44 - Homebrewing sake in Japan is very much illegal. So without getting a partnership like this or actually working at a brewery, she probably wouldn’t have ever gotten an opportunity to make sake herself.
1:26 - Sake is generally made with rice that has been polished down to remove the outer layers that contain more proteins, fats, etc., and the amount that you mill away can affect the eventual taste. Sake is also classified by how much the rice was polished, and typically the more polished the rice, the more premium the sake (although that doesn’t at all mean that sake made with less polished rice is worse — they’re just stylistically different). All of Lamy’s sake uses rice that has been polished to 48% (meaning they’ve milled away 52% of the whole rice grain), so they’re considered the most premium and classified as daiginjo/junmai daiginjo.
1:29 - There are a lot of different types of yeast used to brew sake, and they all massively affect the flavor profile due to the aromatics, esters, acids, and such that they produce during fermentation.
1:46 - She uses the term 吟醸香, or "ginjo-ka" to describe the aroma, and it's used to describe sake with a fruit-forward nose. Most commonly associated with sake made from highly polished rice, with yeast that produces fruity-smelling esters like ethyl caproate and isoamyl acetate among others.
2:19 - Sake sort of has a reputation for being an old man’s drink, and younger drinkers are more into wine, beer, chuhai, things that aren’t sake, etc., but there have been more and more breweries pushing things in newer and more exciting directions.
2:46 - To my knowledge, IWC isn’t taken very seriously in the wine world, but the sake division is very well supported by Japanese brewing associations, and the sake judges are extremely legitimate. And anecdotally, I’ve never tried an IWC medalist sake that I thought was bad or just-okay.
One important thing I’d like to clarify here is that a bronze medal doesn’t actually mean third place. For IWC, medals are more like marks of quality, while trophies are what denote the actual champions for each region/class.
At IWC 2022, there were 1732 sake entries. There were 1004 that didn’t medal, 359 bronze medalists, 289 silver medalists, and 80 gold medalists. Out of the 80 golds, 32 won trophies for either class or region.
It’s a lot of awards, but the main thing to note is that if you receive a medal, then at least 12 judges have tasted your sake and agreed that you’ve made a great, quality sake that is representative of its category. So experts agree that Yuki-Yo-Zuki is a good sake! Unfortunately I’ll probably never be able to try it.
3:10 - Meiri usually enters their flagship and a few other sake at IWC every year, and their flagship product has medaled in 2013 (silver), 2015 (gold), 2017 (bronze), 2019 (bronze), 2020 (gold), and 2022 (silver). Even highly prestigious breweries send things to IWC that don’t end up with a medal.
4:38 - When she said well-renowned, she wasn’t joking. I’m 100% certain that the white bottle in that picture is Aramasa X-Type. Cult status brewery, highly sought after, and hard to get ahold of.
5:26 - She says 辛みはこういう数字, which I translated as being “degree of dryness.” The actual measurement is called 日本酒度, or “sake meter value” (SMV) in English. It’s calculated based on specific gravity, which changes with the concentration of residual sugars, and it generally tells you how sweet or dry a sake is.
For those who are unaware, when describing alcohol, dry is meant as the opposite of sweet. It’s not because of the “drying” effect that alcohol has on your mouth, contrary to popular belief, since (for example) a very sweet wine can still come off as drying because of tannins, acids, etc.
5:36 - Nomoto-san uses the term 淡麗辛口, or “tanrei karakuchi” in the appraisal. It describes sake that are light, clean, and dry, which is a very classic profile. We describe this kind of sake as “karakuchi” in English as well, so I swap it in the translation here and there. Meanwhile, “キレが良い” typically describes a clean and pleasantly crisp finish.
6:01 - see above note on “tanrei karakuchi”
6:40 - She glosses over the difference, so I’ll talk about it here. By definition, daiginjo and junmai daiginjo are made with rice that has been polished by over 50%. Daiginjo are made with added brewer’s alcohol to achieve different flavor profiles, while no extra alcohol is added to junmai daiginjo.
6:45 - No. 10 is a type of yeast that’s in a lot of stuff with a classic low-acid, clean and fruity profile (see: Dewazakura, Eiko Fuji, Kudoki Jozu, Kudoki Jozu Jr). M-310 is a variant of No. 10, and it generally produces much more fruity flavors and aromas.
7:06 - Rice variety definitely has some connection to how the sake will taste, but yeast and brewer skill/brewing conditions have a much greater influence. Predictability and controllability for the are big factors in choosing which rice for whichever sake.
7:54 - Kani miso is pasted crab innards, shiokara is seafood fermented in its own viscera, and hiyayakko is cold/seaoned tofu.
13:18 - I dunno how, but I guess I forgot to put the judges’ tasting notes from IWC 2023 in the video here. So here they are: “A Koji and rice malt-driven sake with rose and melon, pollen and cherry blossom. Savoury and fresh.”