”Sake” with distinctive taste ”Aizu Chujo”
The well established Tsurunoe Shuzo Co., Ltd. was founded in 1794, and is located within the city of Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. In the early Meiji era, the name was changed to ”Tsurunoe” after the Tsurugajo Castle and Inawashiro Lake, which are symbols of Aizu. They started making ”Aizu Chujo” from 1977, to honor the rank of the first clan leader, Lieutenant General Masayuki Hoshina (the brother of Iemitsu Tokugawa). In recent years, they have also begun making a new ”sake” called ”Yuri”, which is the name of general manager, Toshihiro Mukai’s wife. Skilled ”toji” and the cold climate help create the delicious ”sake” which is made with local rice and underground water from Mount Bandai.
Made with great care and effort, in pursuit of the ideal
The mother, Keiko Hayashi, and the wife, Yuri are in charge of the ”koji” room where we observed their work. We also observed the ”sake” being heated for sterilization and to stop enzymes from making the ”sake” deteriorate. Every step is done by hand, and we could see that they expended much time and care. When we asked Mukai what kind of taste he was aiming for, he answered, ”When you take a sip, there should definitely be able to taste the sweetness of the rice, and when you swallow it, that taste should quickly fade away. That’s the kind of taste I strive for.” Nakata nodded as he commented ”I agree wholeheartedly.”
Exquisite sake tastes sweet and sharp
”Aizu Chujo Pure Rice Special Brew Sake” sold out the day after results for the SAKE COMPETITION was announced.
They’ve won many prizes in the past, but this time, they were very surprised at the magnitude of the response. When Nakata tried the sake, he gave high praise commenting that ”It has a good balance of sweetness and sharpness.” When Nakata asked ”Does placing first add pressure?”, Mukai answered ”I’ll continue to challenge myself. I’ll keep striving to make the ideal ”sake”and will compete to win again next year. I’m hoping for a consecutive win.”
