We warned you in our last issue, and right on schedule those fresh, zippy shiboritate new releases for the year have already started popping up in sake stores, bars and restaurants around town.
Similar to the summer sake/hiyaoroshi overlap, the new sake seems to be hitting the market before drinkers and suppliers have finished getting through the previous seasonal release – in this case hiyaoroshi.
Does this even matter? Well, maybe not, but given that the fresh new sake comes at a time when drinkers are leaning toward earthier, umami-rich styles suited to warming, it always seems an odd juxtaposition.
Another thing to take into consideration with the “seasonal” style of sake releases is that with the growing popularity of sake outside of Japan, these seasonal releases aren’t making it to foreign markets when they’re “supposed to” or in some cases not at all.
Is the seasonality of sake becoming irrelevant? Is it making things more complicated and encouraging a feeling of being rushed to move on from one thing to the next?
Just navel gazing for now, but feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments.
And now for the news…
Kochi- Matsuo Shuzō, maker of Matsuokina, announced this month that the brewery is being succeeded by an outside entity in the form of a businessman, Hiroaki Hirano.
This marks the first time since its founding in 1873 that someone outside the Matsuo family will manage the brewery.
Hirano holds an MBA from the London Business School, and has previously served as the head of a management consulting firm. In 2015, he moved to his wife’s hometown of Kami City in Kochi Prefecture where he soon became enamoured by the local Tosa sake. This new-found love led to him opening a sake bar at Kochi Airport, through which he encountered the 7th-generation president of Matsuo Shuzō, Sadayuki Matsuo. After a while Hirano began helping out at the brewery around three years ago as Matsuo was, at the time, brewing almost entirely by himself.
Initially, the brewery will operate under a joint management structure with Hirano being appointed Vice President with representative authority, alongside President Matsuo from November.
Hirano is already making changes in the brewery with the introduction of new labels featuring a casual caricature of President Matsuo (previously, the label depicted a Shōjō, a mythical sake-loving creature). Hirano pointed out that while the brewery’s quality is high, its reputation hasn’t caught up, and to address this, he redesigned the labels for five sake products, and launched a new website to strengthen brand identity. Adding to the new look, the brewery office has been converted into a tasting room and community space.
Hirano said of the new venture, “I’m grateful to be able to work with something I love. Matsuo and I sometimes clash, but he’s been open and accepting.” Matsuo added, “With so many small breweries disappearing these days, closures affect the whole community. I hope now we can continue to participate in events and continue to make sake that will be loved by the locals.”
Source – Yomiuri
JG: Sake breweries being taken over by people or business entities outside the original owning family used to be unheard of, but lately it is not at all uncommon. I heard one (admittedly unsubstantiated) whisper that now about one-fourth of all sake breweries are no longer in the hands of the original owning family. That is not a bad thing, at all! And it may be increasingly inevitable. But it is a huge change from historical patterns.
And this one is to me the most warm-and-fuzzy story of a change in ownership that I have heard. It’s positively heart-warming. Kochi only has 17 or 18 sake breweries, so keeping them all active is a good thing too.
松尾酒造 , 松翁
Fukushima- On October 11, in an effort to promote regional cooperation and support disaster recovery, brewing commenced for the seventh edition of Kizunamai, a unique sake made using rice from all 47 prefectures of Japan.
