Tatsuriki Tokubetsu Junmai Kimoto

Notes of creamy oat milk, peeled almond, flinty minerality, sushi rice, banana chip, nutmeg and fenugreek weave a feather-light balance. 

Clean, fresh, and mineral-- but with a classic kimoto creamy texture. A pretty brilliant value, showcasing some of the best quality sake rice grown in Japan: Hyogo Toku-A Yamadanishiki grown in tightly designated geographic areas of Hyogo. At less than $30, it's a strong case for Sunflower's best value tokubetsu junmai.

Tasting this bottle on arrival, I was shocked to find out that technically speaking, this isn't a super-dry sake. At SMV -1, we'd assume this is a mid-range sake with a little bit of balancing sweetness. But to me, it comes across as clean, fresh, mineral, dry-with a nice acidity giving it structure.

Pairing:

Any dish with a bit of lactic, milky richness will play right off the kimoto creaminess. Bonus points if the dish is a touch delicate (read: grilled scallops) which will let you taste the sake that much more. I can also see a gorgeous symbiosis with nut-based creamy dishes (pine nut risotto, almond milk flan...)

OR: do you want a bit of creaminess to balance out your dish? Think of this Tatsuriki like a sauce playing off the food brilliantly and mellowing out its sharper edges.

• Brewery: Honda Shoten
• Prefecture: Hyogo
• Rice: Yamadanishiki, Hyogo Toku-A Grade 
• Polish: 65%
• Yeast: #901
• SMV: -1 
  

Accolades:

• National Warm Sake Contest - Top Gold Honor
• The Nikkei Rankings of Everything - #1 in Warm Sake

Profile: 
As far as Sake Rice goes, Yamada Nishiki is king, and within Yamada Nishiki there are various rankings. Honda Shoten only uses the best of the best - super high quality Yamada Nishiki rice grown in Hyogo prefecture's Miki city and Kato city. This is the basis of their art, and they only will use this top tier rice. Their sake's names bear the names of the farms that they source their rice from.