Sake from Nara

How does Nara's setting shape its sake?

Nara has no coast. Its breweries sit in basins and among hills. The Nara Sake Brewers Association says each area's climate and culture shapes its sake. The number of breweries changes from year to year; the association's introduction page lists 27. Water and rice differ a little from place to place, so a brewery's location can help explain a difference in taste.

What does Nara sake taste like?

Nara sake is hard to sum up in one taste. Breweries take different approaches, and some work with the traditional starter described below. Choosing bottles by method, like bodaimoto, is a good way to compare.

What is bodaimoto?

Bodaimoto is a way of making the yeast starter, practised at the temple Shoryakuji in the Muromachi period and seen as the origin of the modern starter. Each January the temple prepares the starter, and the breweries in the prefectural bodaimoto research association take it home to brew. The resulting sake is sold at Fukuju-in, a sub-temple of Shoryakuji.

A short history of Nara sake

Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai enshrines the deity of sake brewing and has long been revered by brewers across Japan. In medieval times, monks brewed "sobo-shu" from estate rice, and at its height Shoryakuji had 86 sub-temples. Techniques developed there, such as three-stage brewing, morohaku sake made only from polished rice, and heat treatment, became a base for modern brewing. An Edo-period text says the Nara style is the root of all brewing schools, and Nara sake was shipped to Edo.

Where are the breweries?

Breweries are centred on Nara City and spread across the prefecture, including Sakurai, Kashihara, Gose, Gojo, Yoshino, Uda, Tenri, Ikoma and Kashiba.

Visiting and what to eat with it

The association certifies specialist shops where you can taste Nara sake. Tours vary by brewery, so check each official site. In local food, Nara-zuke, pickles made with sake lees, is well known.