What kind of sake brand is Mizuo?水尾

05/13/202205/29/2023

A supporting role that blends into everyday life! ?? Thorough explanation of the charm of the famous sake “Mizuo" produced by Nagano

Do you know Okushinano’s local sake “Mizuo"?

Mizuo is a heavy snowfall area in the old town of Okushinano Iiyama in the northern part of Nagano.

In addition, Tanakaya Sake Brewery is a sake brewery that also helped to revive the once-destroyed Nagano sake rice “Kinmon Nishiki".

In a land surrounded by such nature, we will introduce in detail the charm of “Mizuo" made from delicious local water and delicious rice.

Contents

What is Tanakaya Sake Brewery?

Commitment to water

Commitment to rice

What is Tanakaya Sake Brewery?

A sake brewery founded by Mr. Koichi Tanaka in the 6th year of the Meiji era, two years after the abolition of the feudal clan, in Okushinano Iiyama, which is adjacent to Niigata prefecture in the northern part of Nagano prefecture. This area is a heavy snowfall area where a lot of snow falls in winter, but rice cultivation is thriving. Nozawa Onsen Village, Sakae Village, Kijimadaira Village, and Iiyama City are known as one of the prefecture’s leading rice-producing regions.

It is also blessed with rice and natural water, and is a cold region in winter, which is a good condition for sake brewing.

" Use good water, use good rice, and make good products that adhere to the basics. We want our customers to enjoy the naturally good sake made in this way."

The phrase above is written on the HP. You can see that it is a sake brewery that makes delicious sake honestly without any small work.

The main brand of the predecessor was “Kin Gourd Yoro", but the current president (Ryuta Tanaka) launched “Mizuo" after entering the brewery. It won the highest award at the 83rd Kanto Shinetsu National Taxation Bureau Liquor Appraisal.

Mizuo aims to play a supporting role

There are various types of sake in the world, but Mizuo seems to be aiming for a “supporting character" sake.

You may think “Why a supporting role?" In various roles, it has a firm feeling.

Mizuo is a “water-like" sake, a sake that you can drink as many cups as you like while drawing out the flavor of the dish. In addition, they think that the game is how to pursue high-quality products while they are not flashy.

It’s not a gorgeous and satisfying liquor, but a liquor that plays a supporting role in your daily life.

Commitment to water

It seems that all of Mizuo’s water is made from natural water that springs from the foot of Mt. Mizuo, a village of Nozawa Onsen.

The quality of the well water that was originally used was hard, and as a result of researching the water in the area, they found the water of Mt. Mizuosan, which is 20km away!

The name “Mizuo", which is also the origin of the name “Mizuo", means the source of water. As the name suggests, the abundant spring water is truly famous water that you can drink and feel the sweetness and transparency. The aroma and taste are both good, and the taste of “Mizuo" with a good aftertaste is produced.

Commitment to rice

The raw material rice is basically 100% rice suitable for sake brewing from Nagano prefecture. Moreover, 70% of them use contract rice grown within 5km from the brewery. As it is a local sake unique to the region, it is important to use local rice as well as water!

In addition to the “Hitogokochi" and “Shirakaba Nishiki" varieties developed in Nagano Prefecture, we use “Kinmon Nishiki" from Kijimadaira Village, which is a rare variety in Japan, for high-end sake such as Daiginjo.

What is Kinmon Nishiki?

As mentioned at the beginning, “Kinmon Nishiki" is sake rice that has once perished.

Originally, sake rice was cultivated in “Kijimadaira Village" in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture for more than 40 years, but due to the popularity of Koshihikari and the development of new varieties, the planting of Kinmon Nishiki dropped significantly in the latter half of the 1980s. .. After that, with the support of the long-established sake brewery “Fukumitsuya" (Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture), it seems that production continued to be produced without interruption.

The taste is said to be a countryside taste with a strong umami, while having a fragrant and tasty characteristic of Yamada Nishiki.

Tanakaya Sake Brewery was the first sake brewery to realize the charm of “Kinmon Nishiki". Out of the 10 types of Tanakaya Sake Brewery, half of them are made with 100% Kinmon Nishiki.

Nowadays, local sake breweries have noticed its goodness, and the number of sake breweries that are gradually incorporated into sake brewing is increasing. Indeed, it was a savior for “Kinmon Nishiki".