SAKE RICE: GAZING WIND, COMET
ALCOHOL CONTENT: 16%
POLISHED RICE YIELD: 35%
MANUFACTURING DATE: OCTOBER 2021

THE HIGHEST-GRADE WORK OF HOKKAIDO'S SUPER JUNMAI SAKE "KITA NO NISHIKI," WHICH USES "GINPU" AS THE KOJI RICE POLISHED TO 35% AND "SUISEI" AS THE SHUBO RICE. THE FORMER HAS A RICH FLAVOR, WHILE THE LATTER IS REFRESHING AND SLIGHTLY SWEET. THE BREWED SAKE HAS A TEXTURE LIKE LIGHT SNOW, HENCE THE NAME "YUKISHIN." I RECENTLY TRIED IT ON ITS REPUTATION, AND INDEED, IT IS EXTRAORDINARY. I SINCERELY RECOMMEND IT!

THE RECOMMENDED DRINKING TEMPERATURE IS 10 TO 15 DEGREES CELSIUS. THE AROMA IS FRAGRANT WITH FRUITY NOTES. THE TASTE IS SMOOTH AND DELICATE, PAIRED WITH A SLIGHTLY SWEET FRUITY FRAGRANCE, GIVING A FEELING LIKE A BEAUTIFUL EARLY SNOW, PURE AND REFINED. SINCE "XUE XIN" HAS A RATHER GENTLE FLAVOR, PAIRING IT WITH LIGHT-TASTING FOODS CAN BETTER HIGHLIGHT THE BEAUTY OF THIS WINE. SASHIMI AND SEAFOOD ARE A PERFECT MATCH, AND IT IS ALSO SURPRISINGLY COMPLEMENTARY WHEN PAIRED WITH APPETIZERS AND SNACKS SUCH AS PISTACHIOS, CREAM CHEESE, AND SALADS.

As a super-regional sake, all sake varieties under "Kita no Nishiki" only use sake rice developed in Hokkaido, and nine out of ten employees working at the brewery are local farmers who grow rice in summer and brew sake with it in winter, aiming to create a taste that is 100% exclusive to Hokkaido. Perhaps the reason why "Kita no Nishiki" is so obsessed with "Made by Hokkaido" is because its parent company, Kobayashi Sake Brewery, itself represents a page of Hokkaido's history...

KOBAYASHI SHUZO ESTABLISHED ITS BREWERY IN KURISAWA TOWN, HOKKAIDO, IN 1900. IN THE 1920S AND 1930S, COAL MINES WERE DISCOVERED IN THE YUBARI AREA OF HOKKAIDO, AND NEARLY 300,000 MINERS FLOCKED TO YUBARI TO WORK. TO MEET THE HUGE DEMAND FOR ALCOHOL FROM THESE MINERS, KOBAYASHI SHUZO BUILT 18 RED-BRICK FACTORY BUILDINGS WITH EUROPEAN-STYLE ARCHITECTURE AT ONCE AND INCREASED ITS ANNUAL PRODUCTION TO 14,000 KOKU (OVER 2.5 MILLION LITERS!). UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER ENTERING THE OIL AGE, YUBARI'S COAL MINES CEASED OPERATION, AND MINERS ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES LEFT YUBARI ONE AFTER ANOTHER. KOBAYASHI SHUZO FACED OVERCAPACITY AND EVENTUALLY CONVERTED SOME OF ITS FACTORY BUILDINGS INTO A MUSEUM, WHICH WAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY JAPAN AS AN "IMPORTANT TANGIBLE CULTURAL PROPERTY" TO COMMEMORATE THIS PAST CHAPTER OF HOKKAIDO.