Kizakura Junmai Daiginjo and Perle: Fushimi Water, and a Sake Made With Wine Yeast

We already wrote about Kizakura's beer, the Uji Matcha IPA and Lucky Dog. Kizakura is a Kyoto brewery and sake is the older half of the business, so here are two of those bottles.

Fushimi

Kizakura is in Fushimi, the sake district in the south of Kyoto, and Fushimi is the counterpart to Nada.

The difference is water. Nada has Miyamizu, which is hard, mineral-rich and drives a strong fermentation, producing dry and firm sake. Fushimi has fushimizu, which is soft, low in minerals, and slows fermentation down. Softer water gives a gentler, rounder, more delicate sake.

The old nicknames capture it. Nada was otokozake, men's sake. Fushimi was onnazake, women's sake. The labels are dated but the underlying contrast is real, and it comes almost entirely from the mineral content of the water.

The Junmai Daiginjo

100% Yamada Nishiki, the most prized sake rice there is, polished to 50%, brewed with Fushimi's fushimizu, and fermented slowly at 10 degrees Celsius over a long period.

Every one of those choices points the same way.

Daiginjo requires polishing to 50% or below, so half of every grain is milled off before brewing even starts. What remains is the pure starch core.

The cold fermentation is the other half of the equation. Yeast at low temperature works slowly and produces more of the aromatic esters that give ginjo sake its fruit and flower character. Warm fermentation is faster, cheaper and blunter. Holding a tank at 10 degrees for weeks costs money in time and energy, and the entire payoff is aroma.

The result is a fragrant, fruity nose over the rice's own umami, with delicate pear and floral notes and a clean finish.

Perle

Perle is the odd one, and much more interesting than the category usually allows.

It is brewed with wine yeast rather than sake yeast.

That is a real departure. Sake yeast strains have been selected over a century for how they behave in a sake mash, which is an unusual environment: koji converts starch to sugar at the same time as the yeast ferments it, a process called multiple parallel fermentation that has no equivalent in wine or beer. Wine yeast was selected for a completely different job, fermenting grape juice that is already sugary.

Put wine yeast in a sake mash and it produces a different acid profile. Perle comes out noticeably more acidic than typical sake, with a bright sweet-tart character: crisp acidity against the rice's gentle sweetness.

The name is French for pearl, chosen for the smooth, pearl-like mouthfeel. It took a gold medal in the main category at the 2023 Sake Awards judged in wine glasses, which is a fitting competition for it.

How to Drink Them

The Junmai Daiginjo well chilled, in a wine glass rather than an ochoko. The aromatics are the point and a wide glass gives them room.

Perle also chilled, also in a wine glass. If you normally drink white wine rather than sake, start here. It is the most legible bridge between the two on our list.

Pair Them With

The Junmai Daiginjo with sashimi and white fish carpaccio.

Perle with anything you would put a crisp white next to. Its acidity does work that most sake cannot.

Try It at Juraku

Kizakura sake is on the list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side, alongside their beers. Check the current menu or ask us what is open.