November 10, 2017
Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau

In Tokai Sake Awards 2017, exhibited were a total of 222 items of Japanese sake including 114 items of ginjo-shu (sake made from highly polished rice using special technique) from 65 breweries, 60 items of junmai-shu (sake made only from rice and rice koji (without addition of brewers alcohol)) from 60 breweries, and 48 items of honjozo-shu (sake made from quality rice with addition of limited volume of brewers alcohol) from 48 breweries.

In the competition, according to today’s brewing environment, where the kinds of yeast used for ginjo-shu are increasingly diversified, we added a category to the ginjo-shu class for items using a traditional yeast,*1 and separated ginjo-shu items using brewers alcohol from those not using it. We evaluated junmai-shu and honjozo-shu in a heated state, which is a style of drinking unique to sake.

After meticulous and strict evaluation, we selected outstanding 37 ginjo-shu from 25 breweries, 21 junmai-shu from 21 breweries, and 18 honjozo-shu from 18 breweries and awarded them honor prizes.

1. Purpose of the Competition

To contribute to the development of the Japanese sake industry and to consumers’ benefit by promoting the advancement of brewing technology and improving the quality of sake in the district under our jurisdiction through quality evaluation for this competition.

2. Class

The competition was conducted for three classes: ginjo-shu, junmai-shu, and honjozo-shu.

3. Eligibility and evaluation methods

(1) Ginjo-shu Class

Eligible items for this class were undiluted sake of ginjo-shu and junmai-ginjo-shu (ginjo-shu without addition of jozo-alcohol*2) that brewers brewed in their own breweries between July 1^st 2016 and June 30^th 2017. All items were classified according to the yeast used, divided into groups based on whether or not an alcohol additive was contained, and the aroma level. We evaluated ginjo-shu items at 18.

(2) junmai-shu Class

Eligible items for this class were junmai-shu that brewers brewed in their own breweries with the same alcohol content as sake on the market. They were separated by the rice-polishing rate (60% or less and more than 60%). We evaluated the items at 45.

(3) Honjozo-shu Class

Eligible items for this class were honjozo-shu that brewers brewed in their own breweries with the same alcohol content as sake on the market. They were separated by the rice-polishing rate, like items in the junmai-shu class. We evaluated the items at 45.

4. Quality Evaluation

(1) Evaluation schedule

• Fri, September 29, 2017: Evaluation of the ginjo-shu class (Preliminary examination)
• Tue, October 3, 2017: Evaluation of the junmai-shu and honjozo-shu classes
• Wed, October 4, 2017: Evaluation of the ginjo-shu class (Final examination)

(2) Panel

Evaluations in this competition were performed by officers from brewing technology institutions in Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi or Mie prefecture, people with knowledge and experience, those who were recommended from associations of sake producers, wholesalers and retailers; and officers of the Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology, Nagoya Taxation Bureau.

A total of 45 panelists were engaged in the evaluation.

5. Participants and Award Winners by Prefecture

Please refer to the Participants and Award Winners by Prefecture.

6. Winners of the Honor Prize

Please refer to the Tokai Sake Awards 2017 Honor Prize Winners List.

*1 Traditional yeast:

Today, yeast that can produce a high level of aroma has been used for most items exhibited in the competition. “Traditional yeast” means excellent yeast that had been used for brewing ginjo-shu since before such new kinds of yeast were developed.

While today most items of ginjo-shu have a gorgeous apple-like aroma and elegant taste, ginjo-shu items using traditional yeast have a gentle banana-like aroma and mild taste with the least aftertaste. Because of these very different characteristics, we separated the ginjo-shu class into two groups in this competition.

*2 Jozo-alcohol:

Distilled alcohol, fermented from sugar cane, is used to adjust the flavor of sake in some cases.