Uchigasaki
Brewing Company
The
Brewery
In 1620, Date Masamune, daimyo of present-day
Miyagi Prefecture, ordered his retainer Uchigasaki
Oribe to build a town one day's march from Sendai, on
the road north to Aomori. In 1661, Oribe's son
Sakuemon founded the Uchigasaki Sake Brewery, which
has continued in production for 343 years and is the
oldest brewery in the region. Little is known of those
early days, and we can only surmise what the brewery's
sakes tasted like then. But today we know exactly what
to expect when we see a bottle with the brewery's Hoyo
label on it. The sake inside will be gentle, reticent
and charming, especially so in the case of ones
made from regional rice strains like
"Manamusume" and "Kura no Hana,"
which seem to lend themselves especially well to the
brewery's delicately nuanced brewing style.
There are commentators who have called attention to
the connection between sake and Buddhism, noting how,
after all, it is the tiny microorganisms who do all
the work, with human beings acting as mere coaches on
the side. Brewmaster Shoji Kano lets them do the work,
but ensures that their every need is sincerely and
attentively met.
“If sakes were people,” one enthusiast
commented recently, "Kura no Hana daiginjo would
be a young girl playing gaily in a meadow.” By
aspiring to produce a label that is light, winsome and graceful,
the Uchigasaki Sake Brewery has produced one of the
very few "crossover" sakes in the United
States: Even flinty burgundy-sippers light up with a
smile at first sip.
The
Sakes
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