Woodsy honeycomb, nutshell, and mushroom patch aromas with a satiny fruity-yet-dry medium-to-full body and a delicate savory mushroom stock, chestnut, and golden beet driven finish. A fine choice for tempura. 91 Points -Beverage Tasting Institute
RATING: 91 points (Exceptional)
CATEGORY: Junmai Ginjo Sake, Sake
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 15.4%
TASTING LOCATION: In Our Chicago Tasting Room
TASTING DATE: Dec-05-2012
WINE ID: 200767
Hiyaoroshi is a general term referring to sake that has been pasteurized once in the winter and then allowed to mature over the summer before distribution in autumn. The Japan Sake Brewers Association designates September 9th as the official start for Hiyaoroshi sales. (Essentially aged Namazume)
September 9th is known as Kiku-no-Sekku (“Chrysanthemum Festival”), where hundreds of chrysanthemums are displayed around various venues and chrysanthemum sake is served. The chrysanthemum (kiku) was brought to Japan from China during the Nara period. In 1183, it was adopted as the Imperial Seal of Japan, and during the Meiji period no one but the Emperor could use it. Nowadays it still represents the authority of the emperor and you can see it everywhere in Japan.
Aromas are forward, fresh, and fruity in the nose with notes of sweet melon, cherries, and hints of vanilla. Flavors on the palate evoke feelings of the season with pumpkin pie, roasted nuts, and stewed plums. This sake is medium-bodied and accented by medium acidity, showing classic Jozen minerality and a lingering dry finish. Additional 7 months of aging adds depth and roundness.
{Pairs with roasted poultry, baked ham, butternut squash ravioli, BBQ, and dishes with sweet spice.
Aged Gouda, triple cream, fresh chevre .
Inviting aromas of mint, marshmallow and Asian pear pull you into this drink. Surprisingly dry, this Nigori (cloudy) style sake has a rich, chewy texture. The intriguing mid palate features mint, white chocolate, and tart cherries. The finish belies our expectations with an elegant, softness of minerals that settles in a dry finish.
Pair with roast duck, dry-rub ribs, full flavored country pate, and fruit and nut desserts of light sweetness.
Mildly ripe Coulommiers or Brie, Italian Raschera.
From the Tochigi Prefecture.
This sake has aromas of gardenia, ripe kiwi, papaya, green peppercorn, aged comte cheese and notes of nutmeg, mushroom, toasted oat and yeast. This sake is bright, dry and lively with medium plus acidity, and full bodied on the palate with a long finish.
Rice Koji: Hitogokochi
Rice Kake: Hitogokochi
Yeast Strain: KT-901
FOOD PAIRINGS: Smoked or oily fish, fried Calamari and Fish Tempura, Fried Chicken
CHEESE PAIRINGS: Foggy morning, slight ripe Brie, Raschera
Juicy & Refreshing. Full of fruity flavors with clean sweetness. Brewed with Hitogokochi, the special sake rice harvested in Nagano, and natural water slowly filtered down the Japan Alps. In 1866, toward the end of the Edo period, Matsujirou Kurogouchi and his family started a small sake brewery currently called Senjo named after Senjo Ga Take, a 3000-meter peak in the Japanese Alps. Today Senjo Brewery strives to combine art with science and old skill with new technology by adding modern twits to the rich historical traditions of Sake brewing.
Pair with Deep-fried fish with sweet & sour sauce, Young sweetfish tempura (chiayu tempura), Caesar salad.
Juicy & Refreshing. Full of fruity flavors with clean sweetness. Brewed with Hitogokochi, the special sake rice harvested in Nagano, and natural water slowly filtered down the Japan Alps. In 1866, toward the end of the Edo period, Matsujirou Kurogouchi and his family started a small sake brewery currently called Senjo named after Senjo Ga Take, a 3000-meter peak in the Japanese Alps. Today Senjo Brewery strives to combine art with science and old skill with new technology by adding modern twits to the rich historical traditions of Sake brewing.
Pair with Deep-fried fish with sweet & sour sauce, Young sweetfish tempura (chiayu tempura), Caesar salad.
Saumaize Michelin Macon Vergisson Sur Roche is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Harmonious, fresh and clean aromas of fresh apple, lemon, orange blossom, white flower. Pure, crisp, silky and fine texture. Ripe fruit flavors and good acidity.
Intense ruby color with tiled notes, A kirch, floral, slightly smoky liquorice nose.
A supple palate with sweetness and refined oaky notes. Nice length in the mouth.
Excellent with beef briskets with a southern dry-rub.
Sojourn Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyard is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The core of Sojourn Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay is from the same vineyard source as the highly-acclaimed Sojourn Sangiacomo Vineyard Pinot noir wines. This wine features a combination of Clone 95 Chardonnay from Sangiacomo Roberts Road Vineyard and Old Wente Clone from Sangiacomo Vella Ranch. The Roberts Road block, planted in 1998, provides minerality and vibrancy. The Old Wente Clone selection is known to produce distinctively small clusters, low yields, and results in elegant, complex wines that round out this blend. These ranches are perfectly suited for growing Chardonnay, with cool climates and well-draining soils.
Sojour Chardonnay is fresh and lively, fruit-forward with bright acidity, stone fruit, citrus and apple flavors that leave your mouth watering.
Young and present, this is an energetic and bold expression of violets, lavender, and cassis mixed with dark chocolate, cherry, plum, and graphite. A wine happy to be tucked away in the cellar, and it’s also expressing itself beautifully now.
Review:
Lovely fragrant blackberry and black cherry fruit, cassis, and rich tobacco spices with lovely fresh earth notes and a sweet kiss of new wood cedar. Incredibly concentrated dark berry fruit with fabulously angular tannins with smooth long beams with crisp edges. Purple florals, dried sagebrush, and chocolate shavings with lids of graphite and deep iron-like mineral character. And a finish of dark saturated fruit that goes and goes for days. There are purple floras too. Polished and bright, with vivacious acidity and freshness evident from the sip to the finish. Wow, this wine.
-Decanter 98-100 Points
Taste the tropics! Flavors and aromas of fresh cut pineapple and juicy mango make this Seasonal Selection a tropical treat. Enjoy with angel food cake or chili spiced nuts.
Love this wine with...
coconut cream pie
This Blueberry Lemon fruit wine is sweet and tart with bright, festive Blueberry & Lemon aromas and flavors.
Quinta do Vesuvio Single Quinta Vintage Port is made from 33% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 15% Sousão, 12% Alicante Bouschet, 5% Other.
This is a powerful, attention-grabbing wine, with taut muscularity. It offers magnificent aromas of rockrose, mint and hints of ginger. The substantial palate is full with expressive black fruit notes lifted by peppery schist tannins (the seasoning provided by the Sousão). The long, lingering aftertaste indicates impressive ageing potential.
Review:
Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate edge brightening. Delicate smoky spice, fine nougat, black berries, ripe figs, candied orange zest. Juicy, elegant, fine extract sweetness, ripe tannins, pleasant freshness, chocolaty in the finish, mineral and long-lasting, extremely elegant style, a large Vesuvio, has class.
-Falstaff 99 Points
The 2017 Vintage Port is a blend of 33% Touriga Nacional, 35% Touriga Franca, 15% Sousão and 12% Alicante Bouschet, plus miscellaneous others filling out the blend. This was bottled about a month before tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats, but the just-bottled sample was not really ready. This was instead a pre-bottling sample. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar.
- Wine Advocate 99 Points
The Prisoner Wine Co. Blindfold Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Blindfold Chardonnay is gorgeously balanced and a true triumph. Fragrant with notes of lime zest, yuzu, jasmine, and a slight minerality, Bright on the palate with juicy green citrus, lychee, green apple and toasted hazelnut. You’ll find both freshness and soft texture from its time in oak. The finish is long and indulgent–let yourself sink into this luxurious pour.
All of the fruit was hand-picked and whole cluster pressed. Barrel fermentation took place in 100% French oak barrels, and 23% New barrels that were selected by forest or grain tightness to frame our fruit profile, bring texture, and soften acidity. Lots were tasted every other week while we stirred the lees to precisely soften the mouthfeel and achieve optimal balance. With fermentation, and subsequent elevage taking place over 11 months we have achieved this goal.
Chardonnay grapes were harvested as flavors of lime zest and green apple started to develop and before acid started to ripen away. Picking decisions were made based on acidity rather than sugar level (Brix). We want to showcase the vineyard sites and growing region in perfect balance.