Masumi Yamahai Zukuri Junmai Ginjo

In September, I visited Keith-san, marketing manager at Masumi in Suwa, Nagano. When he mentioned a new Yamahai Zukuri Junmai Ginjo, how could I resist getting a bottle to try at home! Even when the transaction meant possibly missing my train back to Tokyo, I had to grab a bottle that had only been released a few days before.

We finally had a chance to try it this week. Having been aged for two summers, this Yamahai had a deep note of honey balanced by a gentle acidity leading to a clean finish. We enjoyed it first by itself and admired the golden color.

Then we tried several pairings with cheeses and fish: emmental and a sharp cheddar, maguro and buri sashimi. At room temperature, the cheddar brought the profile of this yamahai to nice, creamy milk taffy-like sweetness. Sipping this deepened the fatty savory taste of the maguro.

Then, heated up to 47℃, this transitioned to an even gentler, more rounded personality while still keeping a nice balance. At this temperature, it was a perfect match to the emmental with long lasting echo of umami. Te-chan liked the combination of Masumi with a chunck of cheddar cheese dipped in soy and wasabi. On the fish pairing side, maguro’s oiliness was wrapped up and finished very nicely. Since we finished both sake and buri before having a chance to try our next idea, but we thought that buri shabu-shabu style rather than raw would go really well with this.

The brewery’s recommendation for foods to enjoy with their Yamahai are:
nikomi simmered meat and vegetables, oily fish sashimi, roasted mushrooms or meat, and grilled beef.

Links in English:
Masumi Yamahai Zukuri Junmai Ginjo
Masumi web site