Daishinshu's roots reach back to 1880 with our predecessor, Harataya Sakagura. Our name combines the dai of daishizen, the Japanese word for Mother Nature, with Shinshu, another name for Nagano Prefecture in mountainous central Japan. It's here that we pour our heart and soul into brewing our signature sake. Our sakagura (brewery) looks out on the majestic peaks of the Northern Alps, rice fields, and flowing rivers and streams that have their source in the mountains.
The water we use for brewing starts as snowmelt in the Alps, spending many years filtering through underground before returning to the surface. Such water is soft, delicate on the palate, and precisely what gives our sake its clean, clear flavor. All of our sake rice is grown by our contracted local farmers. Here in the mountains, we experience low humidity and large temperature shifts between day and night. This is perfect for growing healthy and flavorful produce, including the very finest sake rice.
When the freezing cold of winter sets in and the Northern Alps are covered in snowy white, sake brewing season begins. In fact, the natural world that surrounds us here in Shinshu is indispensable for the sake we put our name on. It gives life to every drop we brew. That's why we like to call it "Sake as Nature Intended."
The sake rice varieties we use are called Hitogokochi and Kinmon-nishiki. Developed here in Nagano, they are perfect for brewing sake. Ten contracted farms right here in Nagano cultivate the rice for us. These are invaluable partners in our brewing process, and we frequently hold collaborative workshops with them to discuss our vision for the rice we seek and the sake we want to create. After they grow it for us with great care, we store the harvest in its original brown rice form before polishing it in-house. This is because once it's polished, it's hard to determine the real quality of the rice. The color, luster, and texture of brown rice are all connected. So, apart from analyzing the quality quantitatively, our brewers use the full range of their senses to judge its condition and use their conclusions as a guide when brewing. We consider rice polishing to be the starting point of the sake brewing process, crucial for transforming every grain of rice into the finest sake.
Characteristics of even a single variety of sake rice differ depending on the farmer and the fields where it was grown. Our brewing method embraces the unique qualities of each batch of rice. To bring out its inherent flavor, to the greatest extent possible, we only use rice from a single farm for every tank of sake we brew. Then, at the end of the process, we provide our farmers with detailed feedback. We are certain that this close collaboration will lead to ever better sake rice, and so ever better sake.
Thanks to the efforts of our contract farmers, since the 2016 brewing season, we have been exclusively using sake rice varieties that are native to Nagano Prefecture, with the vast majority now organically grown. All the sake we brew with it is premium junmai-shu, made from only rice, water, yeast, and koji starter.
Organic, Nagano-grown rice, and junmai-shu sake. We didn't make these changes just to boost our brand. In fact, using organic rice doesn't automatically guarantee better sake. It is an enormous challenge to grow rice with the right color, luster, and firmness for sake brewing while creating healthy, fertile soil through the work of microorganisms, rather than relying on chemical fertilizers. However, by adhering to our ideals and working to make "Sake as Nature Intended," we naturally arrived at this approach.
Using quintessential ingredients nurtured by our natural environment—meltwater from the Northern Alps and local sake rice raised with the wisdom of our farmers relying solely on the microorganisms of the earth—we put our heart and soul into brewing each drop. The result is a process that reflects the nature and culture of the region. We trust that the sake we make this way will also play a part in shaping the culture moving forward, of Shinshu and beyond.
2380 Shimadachi, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, 390-0852 Japan
Phone: +81-263-47-0895
Email: info@daishinsyu.com
Open: Weekdays 9:00 to 17:30
Open: Open: 10:00 to 18:00 (Saturdays / Sundays to 17:00)
Closed: August 14 to 16, December 31 to January 3
Note: Occasionally closed at other times
Daishinshu Sake Brewery works in partnership with Chubusangaku National Park.
Official website (English)
https://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/nps/park/chubu/
