Sankan Shuzo Junmai Ginjo Omachi "Triple Crown"
- In stock, ready to ship
A really, really pretty sake with elegant spice notes... the prettiest pink peppercorn, orange flower, pistachio and rosewater shortbread, violet candies, Earl Grey & salty grapefruit. I'm listing all these big perfumey aromatics, but this isn't a super-floral sake like CEL-24... it's quite a bit more subtle and nuanced, on par with Tenbi Tokubetsu Junmai. The palate is on the dry side, a touch of astringency on the finish keeping it clean and moreish. That familiar velvety texture and rich umami typical of Omachi rice comes out when it's at room temperature, but served chilled in a wine glass it reads as lean and tight, with a tension that reminds me of Moriki Shuzo (where the toji trained!) or Matsunotsukasa. The finish is longer than you'd expect for a dry sake, lingering with subtle depth and delicate perfume.
Spring 2024, we visited Sankan Shuzo during a brief daytrip to Kojima, which is a port town at the end of a peninsula in Okayama, jutting out into the beautiful Seto Inland Sea. Kurashiki is famous for denim (before that: fabric mills, uniforms and cotton growing, as the high salt content in the soil is inhospitable to rice) but it also has fantastic seafood and a few excellent sake breweries. Sankan is a pretty classic tale of a family business on the brink revived with new energy from its next generation. But, maybe because he's around my same age and comes from an IT background, I find Masumi-san totally relatable and a joy to be around. Masumi-san is kind, funny, super outgoing, and open minded...and he's gone to great (even very silly) personal lengths to turn the tide on Sankan. When he first came home, he did everything solo and by hand, and in pursuing an export contract tried his damnedest to communicate in English before eventually, exhaustedly learning that his import contact speaks Japanese. A brewery of Sankan's size (100 koku) might be one of the smallest we carry here at Sunflower (Nishide being the other)... and has no business supplying an importer as well known as Kome Collective... but Masumi's determination, hustle, and guts got it done. Huge respect, and frankly, I can't wait to return and spend more time getting to know him.
All in all, Triple Crown is a very special and unique addition to our Omachi lineup and I anticipate drinking a lot of it! :)
Brewery: Sankan Shuzo 三冠
Location: Kojima, Okayama
Rice: Omachi (Okayama)
Polishing: 55%
SMV: +6
Acidity: 1.7
Yeast: 901
Toji: Fujii Tokihiro
ABV: 16.2%
Founded in 1806, Sankan Shuzo has been brewing sake while following the traditional methods of the Bicchu Toji, the second oldest Toji after Noto Toji.
The sake is made from the two major rice varieties originating from Okayama Prefecture, "Omachi" and "Asahi", and the brewing water is pure water from a source at the foot of the local mountains. It has a dry, full-bodied taste, and is brewed with the highest regard for compatibility with seafood landed at Shimotsui Port, which has long been close to our brewery, and strive to create a dry sake that complements the flavor of the fish dishes while being superior to the fish oil.
From rice and water to taste, we are committed to making traditional local sake with the utmost care for the local area. Local fishermen themselves provide recipes for "fisherman's meal" using fresh seafood from the Seto Inland Sea. Please take a look at their site when you want to eat delicious fish dishes or when you are in need of "one more dish" for this evening.
Kojima, where our brewery is located, is called "Kojima,the city of textiles," and has been a very active area in the textile industry for a long time, as it was the birthplace of work uniforms and school uniforms in the past, and is now the birthplace of domestically produced denim.
In April 2017, Kurashiki City was recognized as a "Japan Heritage Site" as a "textile town where Japanese and Western styles are interwoven," and Kojima's textile industry was also comprehensively recognized.
Near the warehouse are Betty Smith Jeans Museum and the Kojima School Uniform Museum of Japan Apparel Corporation, which attract more than 50,000 visitors a year.
Shimotsui Fishing Port, famous for the landing of Shimotsui octopus, is also nearby, and was used as a location for the animated film "Hirunehime: Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari" directed by Kenji Kamiyama,which was released on March 18, 2017.
Shimotsui Port is a fishing port on the Seto Inland Sea and is representative of ports in Okayama; our brewery is the nearest brewery to the port. Our sake is brewed with the aim of pairing it to the fish and shellfish harvested at Shimotsui Port. We want to brew a dry sake that enhances the deep ‘umami’ flavors of the food and that can stand up to fish oils, a dry sake which retains the flavor of the rice from which it is made, and which can replace the rice dish in a meal that consumer never tires of drinking. This is what we strive for when brewing sake.
Our water is ‘mikoe-no-mizu’ by the salt field workers who labored under the hot sun, and who would line up for a cool, refreshing drink to quench their thirst with the treasured water. Many people wonder whether the water is salty, being so close to the coast; however, the water has been filtered through granite and is clean and pure.
It is hard water, and it brings out the flavor of the ingredients when brewing.