Sake and shochu from Aichi

What sake rice does Aichi use?

Yumeginga is a sake rice bred in 2010 at the Aichi Agricultural Research Center. It was selected from the progeny of a 2001 cross of Yamada Nishiki and "Ikushu 1764". It ripens late like Yamada Nishiki, has a smaller shinpaku (white core) than Wakamizu, good appearance and, as reported, brewing suitability as good as Yamada Nishiki. It resists rice stripe disease and suits warm, flat growing areas.

What does Aichi sake taste like?

Many breweries in the prefecture use Yamada Nishiki and local rice such as Yumeginga and Wakamizu to make savoury food sake. Taste still differs from brewery to brewery, from fragrant ginjo styles to firm, full-bodied sake.

A short history of Aichi sake

Handa on the Chita peninsula is a centre of brewing culture with over 300 years of history. Through a canal opened in the Edo period, sake, vinegar and cotton went from the peninsula to Edo and Osaka. One Handa sake brewery kept brewing for about 200 years until 1972, and is now open as a sake museum.

Where are the breweries?

There are breweries across Owari and Mikawa. Handa and Tokoname on the Chita peninsula are known for miso, soy sauce and vinegar as well as sake, and in Okazaki you can tour Hatcho miso makers.

Visiting and what to eat with it

The Kokuzakari Sake Culture Museum in Handa has free admission, explains the brewing process used since the Edo era, and offers tastings of sake and plum wine. Morita Aji no Yakata in Tokoname also offers sake tastings. Aichi is known for strongly flavoured Nagoya cuisine such as miso-nikomi udon, miso katsu and hitsumabushi, which suits a sake with savoury depth.