In particular, I enjoy choosing the sake I will drink over the weekend after work on Fridays. The favorite time of choosing sake and the food that goes with it, I am already rewarding myself. When I find a little happiness in my daily life, I am filled with joy. In a refrigerated case that looks like a show window, there is a wide selection of sake, but the sake in the unique bright red bottle is the Tatenogawa Muga Red Bottle Junmai Daiginjo. The passionate red bottle design made me sympathetic to the brand, but Tatenokawa's Muga series is a brand with a solid concept.
Tatenokawa Muga Red Bottle Junmai Daiginjo is the third in the Tatenokawa Muga series. The Tatenogawa Muga series pursues the ultimate in freshness and expresses the following six features: 1) no filtration, 2) no added water, 3) no heating, 4) not sparked = natural bubbling, 5) at the earliest = bottled on the day of pressing filtration, and 6) freshness and flavor pursued with selfless dedication. The third red bottle is characterized by the use of 100% "Yuki-Megami" or "Snow Goddess" sake rice produced in Yamagata Prefecture by contract farmers, and the red bottle is the symbolic color of the "Goddess" image.
The brewery, Tate-no-Kawa Shuzo, is located in Sakata City in the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture and has over 190 years of history since its establishment in the Edo period (1832). Sake rice "Yuki-Megami" is the new sake rice developed in Yamagata Prefecture for junmai-daiginjo and daiginjo sake, and has excellent characteristics such as larger grain size, lower crude protein, and suitable for higher refining than "Dewa-Sansan," a well-known sake rice variety in Yamagata Prefecture for sake brewing.
It is the first time to taste sake made from "Yuki-Megami,” a leading-edge sake rice developed in Yamagata Prefecture. The label on the back of the bottle said the brewery was producing this sake in January 2024, but I opened the bottle in June. Tatenogawa Muga Red Bottle Junmai Daiginjo, which strives for a fresh sake quality, was paired with a beef meat pie with a light, crispy texture and authentic beef paste stewed inside.
Tatenogawa, Muga, Red Bottle, Junmai Daiginjo
Unfiltered unpasteurized sake
Ingredients : Rice (domestic), Rice malt (domestic rice)
Rice used: 100% contract grown rice, Yuki-Megami
Polishing ratio: 50%
Alcohol content: 16%.
Appearance: Very pale greenish-yellow.
Aroma: Mild aroma of kompeito sugar, white grapes and rice powder.
Taste: The juicy acidity and sweetness of white grapes spread to the tip of the tongue, as well as the top notes, with a crisp outline down the throat and a light overall mouthfeel.