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  5. Product Specification of Geographical Indication “信濃大町 (Shinano Omachi)”

Product Specification of Geographical Indication “信濃大町 (Shinano Omachi)”

＜Interim translation＞

Seishu / Sake

Ⅰ Matters relating the characteristics of liquor which is essentially attributable to its geographical origin

  • (1) Characteristics of liquor
     As Omachi City（Geographical Indication Shinano Omachi’s area）is located in the northwestern part of Nagano Prefecture, Shinano Omachi’s Seishu (sake) has the special attributes of the geographical indication for “Nagano” (Seishu), such as simple-yet- robust flavor and clean, gentle aromatic harmony, while it is the sake with a distinctive aroma derived from rice.
     The color tone has a transparent base with colorless or pale gold , and the aroma is reminiscent of ripe yellow fruits such as yellow apples, bananas, melons, and pears, with a full-bodied aroma derived from rice, such as freshly cooked rice, freshly pounded rice cakes, and rice flour.
     As soon as you put it in your mouth, you will feel a clear and rich taste derived from rice, followed by a mellow umami and sweetness, and a lingering aftertaste with a balance of umami, sweetness and bitterness.
     In addition, it not only has a crisp alcoholic flavor, but also has a bitterness that makes up the rich taste, so it goes well with mainly bitter, sour, and umami-flavored ingredients, making it suitable for drinking with meals.
     Shinano Omachi’s seishu goes very well with edible wild plants such as aralia sprout, acanthopanax ciadophylloides, and potherb such as watercress, which have bitterness accompanied by umami, which are abundantly harvested in and around Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture.
     It also further enhances the umami derived from animal protein in livestock products (pork), which is a special product of this production area.
  • (2) Essential attribution of its geographical origin to characteristics of liquor
    • A. Natural factors
       The special attributes of Shinano Omachi’s liquor have been shaped by the favorable environment from (a) to (c) below.
    • (a) Topography and rice farming environment
       The Shinano Omachi area (including Matsukawa Village, Kita-azumi County, Nagano Prefecture, adjacent to the south) is located at the northern end of the Matsumoto Basin which is located in the northwestern part of Nagano Prefecture, in the central part of Honshu. The area is surrounded by mountains, with the Hida Mountains (Northern Japan Alps) lined with 3,000m-class mountains in the western area and range of 1,000m-class mountains on the east side of the city. As an area where sake brewing is conducted in Nagano Prefecture, it is characterized by its high elevation, but less snowfall than neighboring areas such as Hakuba Village in Kita-azumi County, Nagano Prefecture, and Otari Village in the same county.
       The most important feature of the sake brewing and the production of rice, which is the raw material of sake, in this area is that it can secure an abundant amount of water mainly melted snow from the Northern Japan Alps. Melted snow from the Northern Japan Alps flows into the Kago River and Kashima River Water Systems as surface water, and subsoil water springs from Lake Aoki, Lake Nakatsuna, and Lake Kizaki and flows into the Nogu River System.
       Although this water is clean and clear, it is generally not suitable for paddy rice cultivation because of its low water temperature. However, spring water from lakes such as Lake Aoki is heated by the sun once it remains in the lake, and by the time it flows out as the Nogu River, it has reached a temperature very suitable for paddy rice cultivation. Because of this natural environment, the Shinano Omachi area has prospered as the suitable place for rice cultivation since the Yayoi period（BC10～AC3）.
       On the other hand, the water that flows into the Kago River and Kashima River systems has a low water temperature and was not used for rice cultivation in the past. However, as paddy field development progressed in the western part of the area after World War II, water was drawn from the Kago River and Kashima River systems into a channel approximation 16-18 m wide and 10 cm deep called “Nurume,” which was able to raise the water temperature before supplying it to the paddy fields, further expanding the paddy fields.
       Also, this abundant low-temperature water keeps the water temperature stable even in scorching heat. It is essential for rice cultivation in the area, as it keeps the paddy fields at a constant temperature regardless of annual climatic changes, prevents stunting of rice plants due to high temperatures, and helps healthy root spread, which contributes to the realization of sake quality with firmly feeling umami derived from rice.
    • (b) Brewing Water
       Brewing water also uses melted snow from the Northern Japan Alps and other mountains. Since clean and clear water at low temperatures is suitable for brewing, soft water with a hardness of about 13 mg/L, called “Onna mizu（means female water）”, which gushes from the Iyari Wetlands at an altitude of about 800 meters in the northern part of Omachi City, has been used for a long time.
       In addition, at an elevation of approximation 1,560 meters on the Ushiro-Tateyama Mountain Range, the construction of the Kurobe Dam, the major construction project of the 20th century, exposed a fracture zone. From there, it became possible to extract medium-hard water with a hardness of about 74 mg/L to 167 mg/L, called “Hyojunsui”, and this “Hyojunsui” is also used for sake brewing in recent years.
       These brewing water supports the realization of sake quality with a distinctive aroma derived from the rice of this area, and the balance of umami, sweetness, and bitterness.
    • (c) Climate
       In Shinano Omachi area, there is a large difference in temperature between day and night, with the average daily maximum temperature in August being around 28°C (normal year), while the average minimum temperature is 17-18°C (normal year), so it changes nearly 10°C during a day. Due to this temperature difference, it is possible to harvest rice suitable for sake brewing, which is rich and well-ripened.
       In addition, the average temperature is below 0°C from January to February, making it difficult for miscellaneous bacteria to grow and suitable for low temperature control of fermentation in the brewing process.
    • B. Human factors
    • (a) Sake Brewing
       The Chikuni Kaido, a road used to transport salt produced on the Sea of Japan side such as Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture to the central area of Nagano Prefecture has been running through this area since ancient times. In the Edo period（AC17-19）, trade in products other than salt increased, and post towns such as Omachi-juku were developed, thereby the demand for sake also naturally increased, and sake brewing in this area is said to have flourished.
       In addition, the sake brewers who were said to had been involved in the brewing of this sake were persons (later called “Otari Toji,” a sake brewing workmen) from Otari village in Kita-azumi County, present-day Nagano Prefecture, near the border with Niigata Prefecture, north of Omachi City leading to the Chikuni Kaido. Otari Village is located in the mountainous area with heavy snowfall in winter. One of the options for men in this village making money in winter was to engage in sake brewing in this area, where they could travel along the Chikuni Kaido after the rice farming was over and before the snow piled up.
       Because sake brewing in this area has been carried out by these people who understood the characteristics of the area completely, including its high altitude, without efficiency or labor-saving measures, sake brewing in small quantities had been continued for many years in small quantities by carrying out the process honestly and carefully by hand without efficiency or labor-saving measures.
       Even now, sake breweries in the area use wood steaming baskets for all the rice steaming, and koji is used in small quantities of 100 kg or less in the kojimuro after the “Mori” process. These careful hand-made sake brewing has been inherited.
    • (b) Production of Sakamai (Sake Rice)
       One of the characteristics of modern sake brewing in this area is that all of the breweries in the area have established close cooperative and collaborative relationships with farmers and have adopted a thorough contract farming system that even identifies the paddy fields in order to realize sake brewing that makes the most of “local water and local rice”.  Specifically, under the coaching of the Nagano Prefectural the Northern Japan Alps Agricultural Rural Support Center and the Daihoku Agricultural Cooperative, farmers are making daily efforts to secure the high-quality sake rice, for example, by increasing shinpaku manifestation rate of sake rice through deep water cultivation method.

Ⅱ Matters relating to ingredients and production method of liquor

  • (1) Ingredients
    • A. The rice and rice koji for sake are made of the only polished rice (Note 2) of brown rice (Note 1) harvested from the paddy fields specified in the Business Implementation Procedures in Omachi City, and adjacent Matsukawa Village, Kita-azumi County, Nagano Prefecture.
    • (Note 1) Limited to those ranked as third grade or higher according to the Agricultural Products Inspection Act (Act No. 144 of 1951).
    • (Note 2) Limited to brown rice removed all or part of the rice bran layer in Nagano Prefecture.
    • B. Only the following varieties of rice and rice koji must be used
       (a) Miyama Nishiki
       (b) Hitogokochi
       (c) Kinmon Nishiki
       (d) Sankei Nishiki
    • C. Only water locally collected within must be used.
    • D. However, among the ingredients for sake stipulated in Article 2 of the Enforcement Order of the Liquor Tax Act, ingredients other than alcohol (Note 3) must not be used.
    • (Note 3) Limited to cases where the weight of alcohol in the ingredients must not exceed 10% of the weight of rice (including koji rice).
  • (2) Production method
    • A. It must be produced within the production area according to the sake brewing method prescribed in Article 3, Item 7, (a) or (b) of the Liquor Tax Act.
    • B. In the production process, when storing, it must be done within the production area.
    • C. All rice used for rice and rice koji must be steamed with a wood steaming baskets.
    • D. Rice koji used must be produced (Note 5) in Kojimuro (a chamber for koji) (Note 4) installed within the production area.
    • (Note 4) A room that is separated from other rooms by walls, floors, and roofs, and used only for koji making operations.
    • (Note 5) Limited to koji production weighing 100 kg or less per unit in which the processes after “Mori (transfer of koji into shallow trays)” are performed using kojidoko (a yeast floor), kojibako (a box for growing koji) or kojibuta (shallow wooden trays for koji).
    • E. Within the production area, bottling must be completed with containers planned to be delivered to final consumers.

Ⅲ Matters relating to management for maintaining the characteristics of liquor

  • (1) Role and Location of the “Control Body”
  •  In order to use the Geographical Indication “Shinano Omachi”, it is necessary to obtain the confirmation in (B) after obtaining the confirmation in (A) below, before transferring liquor product1 from the brewing plant2 of liquor products to be used.
  • 1 Excluding those subject to the provisions of Article 28, Paragraph 1 of the Liquor Tax Law.
  • 2 Including a place regarded as a brewing plant licensed to manufacture liquor products pursuant to the provisions of Article 28, Paragraph 6 or Article 28-3, Paragraph 4 of the Liquor Tax Act.
      • A. Confirmation by the Nagano Prefecture Product Origin Designation Committee.
         Liquor products, for which the Geographical Indication “Shinano Omachi” is to be used, must be confirmed based on the Business Implementation Procedures prepared by the Nagano Prefecture Product Origin Designation Committee as having met the production standards for the Geographical Indication “Nagano” (Seishu).
      • B. Confirmation by the GI Shinano Omachi Control Council
         Liquor products, for which the Geographical Indication “Shinano Omachi” is to be used, must be confirmed based on the Business Implementation Procedures prepared by the GI Shinano Omachi Control Council as having met the two production standards below for the Geographical Indication “Shinano Omachi”: “Ⅰ. Matters relating the characteristics of liquor which is essentially attributable to its geographical origin” and “Ⅱ. Matters relating to ingredients and production method of liquor”.
        • Name of Control Body: GI Shinano Omachi Control Council
        Address: Usui Shoten Co., Ltd., 2512-1, Omachi, Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture
        Contact: Phone Number 0261-22-0007
    • (2) Indication of “Brewery Year”
    •  When “Brewery Year (BY)” is indicated along with the use of the geographical indication of “Shinano Omachi”, it must be indicated based on the Business Implementation Procedures.

    Ⅳ  Matters relating to liquor classes

    Seishu /sake (Article 3, Item 7 of the Liquor Tax Act)

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