CONTENTS
1: IWC (International Wine Challenge) 2018 “SAKE Division” Winners Announced!
2: Fukushima Wins National Sake Competition for the Sixth Straight Year
3: Suntory’s “Tomi Red 2013” the First to Receive the Japanese Wine Category Trophy
IWC (International Wine Challenge) 2018 “SAKE Division” Winners Announced!
This year’s IWC sake division saw a record 1,636 sakes from 456 breweries exhibited. Of these, 97 were awarded gold medal awards and 9 were awarded trophy, on Friday, May 18th. The highest honor of IWC SAKE Division,”Chanpion Sake” will be announced at Award Dinner to be held in London on Tuesday, July 10th.
The International Wine Challenge, held each year in London, is the world’s largest and largely considered the most influential. The IWC Sake Division was first instituted in 2007. Since then, the award-winning sake of the SAKE Division has attracted a great deal of attention both in Japan and abroad as Japanese sake of quality that reflects a balance of both Japanese and non-Japanese palates. This popularity has made the IWC an important event in the advancement of sake overseas.
◎Sake awarded Trophy
- Futsu-shu Trophy: Tentaka umakara, Tentaka brewery / Tochigi Prefecture
- Honjozo Trophy: Hatsumago densho kimono, Tohoku meijo / Yamagata Prefecture
- Junmai Trophy: Junmaishu Gekkyu, Nakurayama brewery / Fukushima Prefecture
- Junmai ginjo Trophy: Fumotoe Junmai ginjo Yamadanishiki, Fumotoi brewery / Yamagata Prefecture
- Junmai daiginjo Trophy: Kinsuzume 40%, Horie sakaba / Yamaguchi Prefecture
- Ginjo Trophy: Okunomatsu adatara ginjo, Okunomatsu brewery / Fukushima Prefecture
- Daiginjo Trophy: Miyanoyuki Daiginjo, Miyazaki honten / Mie Prefecture
- Koshu Trophy: Kijo daikoshu furudokei, Kamogawa brewery / Yamagata Prefecture
- Sparkling Trophy: Ichinokura suzune Wabi, Ichinokura brewery / Miyagi Prefecture
LINK: SAKETIMES | 2018/05/18 | 【速報】IWC(インターナショナル・ワイン・チャレンジ)2018「SAKE部門」のトロフィー受賞酒が発表されました！
Fukushima Wins National Sake Competition for the Sixth Straight Year
For a record sixth straight year, Fukushima sake producers taken home the largest number of awards in the annual Japan Sake Awards held by Japan’s National Research Institute of Brewing.
Brands from the prefecture won the Gold Prize at the Annual Japan Sake Awards, taking home 19 awards, matching Hyogo Prefecture for the year’s top region. Judges from the National Tax Agency, along with master brewers, selected 232 brands out of 850 submitted as Gold Prize winners.
For the 11th year running, Kokken Brewery’s “Kokken” took home the top prize. Higashinihonshuzo’s Okunomatsu and Nagurayama Sake Brewery’s “Nagurayama” also won awards for the 10th consecutive year.
◎Top 5 Prefecture of Taking Large Number of Awards
- Fukushima: 19 for won the Gold Prize, 31 for won the prize
- Hyogo: 19 for won the Gold Prize, 28 for won the prize
- Niigata: 14 for won the Gold Prize, 30 for won the prize
- Miyagi, Akita: won 13 for the Gold Prize, 18 for won the prize
- Nagano: 12 for won the Gold Prize, 29 for won the prize
LINK: 毎日新聞 | 2018/05/18 | 全国新酒鑑評会 金賞数で福島６連覇 挑戦重ね史上初
Suntory’s “Tomi Red 2013” the First to Receive the Japanese Wine Category Trophy
While Japan has been world class in whisky for decades now, international recognition in winemaking has so far escaped it. That changed at the 2018 IWC when Suntory‘s “Tomi Red 2013” took home the first ever Japanese Wine Category trophy. This is the first time the trophy has been awarded to a Japanese wine in the IWC competition.
Suntory says the Yamanashi-harvested red “strikes a superb balance between a sweet fruity aroma, and the aroma of black olives, dried tomatoes, pepper, and licorice. It features a refined mouthfeel and high-quality tannin that envelops the palate.”
The addition of a Japanese Wine category is a clear sign of recognition for the increasing quality of Japanese wines.
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