A stunning alternative to Champagne, Prosecco or Moscato d’Asti; Ichinokura Brewery’s Suzune Wabi Premium Sparkling Sake picked up a Gold Medal and the Sparkling Sake Trophy at the International Wine Challenge in 2018. It’s the must-have bubbles this season. Those bubbles are fine, clean and long-lasting, as they are produced by second fermentation in the bottle, much as they are for Champagne. Suzune Wabi is handcrafted using crystal clear water from the Ou mountains and the finest locally grown Toyo Nishiki and Shunyo rice, whose grains are milled down to a polishing ratio of 65%. Pouring this into a Champagne flute, you’ll discover notes of steamed rice, frozen white grapes, crunchy white peach, pear, lychee, creamy yoghurt, cucumber and a twist of lime. Naturally sweet, but never cloying, the creamy bubbles make it dangerously drinkable. Serve alongside anything from California rolls to cheesecake, or caviar to sorbet. Ichinokura was created in 1973 when four breweries in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture merged their skills, experience and knowledge to form one. With the rise of wine and whisky in Japan, the nihonshu industry – nihonshu being the Japanese name for the rice wine we call sake – had taken a bit of a hit. So the clever brewers had to invent something new. The pioneering President of Ichinokura Brewery travelled around Europe looking for inspiration, which he duly found in Champagne – home of the world’s leading sparkling wine – and Belgium. In the latter, he discovered many similarities between the brewing processes of Belgian beer and his own sake, and later travelled back to learn the secrets of bottle fermentation. Ichinokura’s Suzune Wabi was one of the very first sparkling sakes to hit the market and it has set the benchmark ever since.
£6.93 per 100.00ml
