Kozaemon Junmai Ginjo Shinano Miyamanishiki (300 ml)

Founded in 1702 by Nakashima Kozaemon in Mizunami City, Gifu, this brewery made a deliberate commercial declaration in the early 2000s: reject the light, dry tanrei karakuchi mainstream and champion umakuchi — rich, umami-forward sake built for food. That philosophy is not marketing; it is encoded in the production method. Koji is cultivated at approximately 98% humidity, maximising enzyme activity and driving deeper starch conversion than standard cultivation achieves. Fermentation then follows a four-stage yodan addition rather than the industry-standard three-stage sandan shikomi — the fourth rice-and-water addition extending mash complexity and amplifying rice-derived umami extraction. The water source is a natural underground spring fed by snowmelt from Mt. Byobu (Byobuzan), filtered through the forested, cool-humid microclimate of Mizunami's mountainous terrain, lending a clean mineral backbone to the ferment. This expression uses Shinano Miyama Nishiki rice — a cold-climate variety developed in Nagano Prefecture — polished to 55% seimaibuai, qualifying it firmly in the Junmai Ginjo tier. What distinguishes it within the Kozaemon range is the pairing of a delicate ginjo-grade polish with the brewery's characteristically amplified umami technique — a combination most ginjo producers deliberately avoid in favour of aromatic lightness. The result sits at the intersection of floral ginjo lift and the textural richness the house is built on.