SAKE MAP
Hokuriku & Koshinetsu / Types: Sake
Six drinks from Niigata, each with a snack that suits it and a short story behind the bottle.
Shimeharitsuru
A prestigious bottle from the snow-deep castle town of Murakami, said to be hard to get even locally. Brewed with clear snowmelt water from the harsh winter, its hallmark is a transparent elegance. Its craft, choosing grace over flash, is called the ideal of Niigata's light-and-dry style. The quiet scenery of a snow country seems to reflect right in the cup.
Pairs with：Sake-no-yakizuke (marinated grilled salmon) / Noppe (root-vegetable stew)
Kubota
The prime mover that spread Niigata's "light and dry" image nationwide. Its clean, never-tiring taste is credited with widening the door to sake. It bears the brewery's founding trade name, a bottle of distinguished pedigree. The first sake you'd want to recommend even to those unfamiliar with it.
Pairs with：Tochio-age (thick fried tofu) / Hegi-soba (buckwheat noodles on a tray)
Hakkaisan
A flagship of Minamiuonuma, bearing the name of the sacred Mt. Hakkai. Brewed with pristine water of a heavy-snow region, its hallmark is a clean taste free of any harshness. It's also known for snow-country ingenuity, like ageing in a natural "yukimuro" snow cellar. A purity like drinking the mountain's spring water straight.
Pairs with：Kagura-nanban miso (local chili miso) / Wappa-meshi (rice steamed in a cedar box)
Koshinokanbai
A legendary bottle that once set off a nationwide "light and dry" boom. Its name aims for a taste as clear and dignified as a winter plum blossoming in the snow. For a time it became the very byword for a phantom, hard-to-get sake. Many name this the sake of Niigata.
Pairs with：Noppe (root-vegetable stew) / Sake-no-yakizuke (marinated grilled salmon)
Jozenmizunogotoshi
A bottle as clear as water, its name from Laozi's words, "the highest good is like water." True to the name, its hallmark is a strikingly clear, soft drink. It has a gentleness that slips right up to even a first-time sake drinker. Savor it quietly, philosophy of the name and all.
Pairs with：Hegi-soba (buckwheat noodles on a tray) / Wappa-meshi (rice steamed in a cedar box)
Kakurei
A Minamiuonuma bottle with the auspicious name "growing old like a crane." Amid light-and-dry Niigata, it stands out with a taste that firmly conveys the umami of rice. Uonuma rice and snowmelt water raise a full, satisfying sake. You'll want to tip it slowly, wishing for long life.
Pairs with：Kagura-nanban miso (local chili miso) / Noppe (root-vegetable stew)