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Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase720ml£42
Fruity, integrated, delicious & food-friendly
Earn 21.00 Reward Points £42.00
Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase
Junmai Daiginjo
Tatenokawa
Food
Cold
Food
Fragrant
Fruity
10-15°C
The SHIELD series uses local, heirloom rice strains from the Shonai Area of Yamagata Prefecture. The first in the series uses the elusive rice strain Kameno-o to great effect, resulting a a fabulous sake that embodies the very essence of ‘rustic elegance’.
The second in the series is Tatenokawa SHEILD Soube Wase and – unsurprisingly – uses the rice strain Soube Wase. Soube Wase is not a well-known sake rice; indeed, Tatenokawa are the only brewery in Japan to make use of it having spent years of effort, working with local rice farmers, to resurrect the rice variety from obscurity (more below). We absolutely love this sake and it’s fast becoming a favourite of ours from the Tatenokawa range.
Whilst Tatenokawa SHIELD Kameno-o exudes ‘rustic elegance’, Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase is all about fruity aromas, a crisp profile and delicate umami; needless to say it is stunning with a whole variety of foods. Aromas are fruity and tightly-integrated: a creamy fruit salad of peach, apple, mango, honeydew melon, green grape & subtle banana. There is an honest sweetness evolved from rice; a tasty, juicy & neat profile; medium-bodied with lovely, elegant umami & fresh acidity.
As with its Kameno-o sibling, chilling this sake right down doesn’t give it the best light (although it is still delicious) as its allure is the perfect balance between composed umami and fruitiness, by chilling it too much you mute that. We recommend a temperature of around 10 deg C which really allows the fruity notes to shine and the umami to play an active & supportive role.
Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase is generous with food pairings. As with its sibling grilled vegetables are great (asparagus, smoky aubergine, artichoke); also prosciutto, burrata, extra virgin olive oil, goat’s cheese, slow-cooked lamb, citrus, sweet types of fish and raw meats to name but a few.
This sake really is a dream, we highly recommend it!
Some Info on the Resurrection of Soube Wase
In the notes on SHIELD Kameno-o we discovered how Kameno-o is actually a natural mutation from Soube Wase, first discovered in 1896 by industrious rice farmer, Kameji Abe. Of course this means Soube Wase pre-dates Kameno-o and – arguably – can be called its parent. Tatenokawa CEO, Junpei Sato, discovered this lineage whilst researching Shonai region (where Tatenokawa is based) rice cultivation history, he explains:
“I found data showing that, historically, the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture, where TATENOKAWA is located, was very active in a variety of rice development…
…it showed that individual farmers took the initiative in improving rice varieties and developing new varieties, which is unthinkable nowadays. I couldn’t help but respect this fact…
…we must pass on the history and the great achievements of our predecessors to future generations.”
He goes on to explain how he managed to resurrect the rice variety with the dedication and hard work of a local rice farmers:
“We obtained 1.9kg of Soube Wase seeds left over from a local agricultural experiment station, and approached Mr Takashi Shoji, a local contracted farmer, about growing it. At first, he was not enthusiastic about the project, but I tried desperately to persuade him, and in the spring of 2018, we were able to start the first rice planting, starting with a small area of 0.5 hectares. The purpose of the first year’s cultivation was to test the characteristics of the variety, but also to prepare the seeds for full-scale cultivation the following year.
Because it was an old variety, the stalks of the rice were long and cultivation was difficult. I thought it was no surprise that there were no farmers who wanted to grow it, since it would probably die before the harvest, just like Kameno-o. All the newer varieties have been bred to have shorter rice stalks, which makes it easier to harvest with a combine harvester.
The following year, in the spring of 2019, we planted 1.2 hectares of Soube Wase with one more contract farmer and used this harvested rice to make sake for the first time.
The first series, SHIELD Kameno-o, was first released in March 2020, and the second series, SHIELD Soube Wase, was released in October 2020.”
Ingredients: water, rice, koji, yeast
FOOD PAIRINGS
grilled vegetables (asparagus, smoky aubergine, artichoke); also prosciutto, burrata, extra virgin olive oil, goat's cheese, slow-cooked lamb, citrus, sweet types of fish & raw meats
MASTER SPECS
15%
50%
-1
1.6
1.3
Shonai Region Soube Wase
The SHIELD series uses local, heirloom rice strains from the Shonai Area of Yamagata Prefecture. The first in the series uses the elusive rice strain Kameno-o to great effect, resulting a a fabulous sake that embodies the very essence of ‘rustic elegance’.
The second in the series is Tatenokawa SHEILD Soube Wase and – unsurprisingly – uses the rice strain Soube Wase. Soube Wase is not a well-known sake rice; indeed, Tatenokawa are the only brewery in Japan to make use of it having spent years of effort, working with local rice farmers, to resurrect the rice variety from obscurity (more below). We absolutely love this sake and it’s fast becoming a favourite of ours from the Tatenokawa range.
Whilst Tatenokawa SHIELD Kameno-o exudes ‘rustic elegance’, Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase is all about fruity aromas, a crisp profile and delicate umami; needless to say it is stunning with a whole variety of foods. Aromas are fruity and tightly-integrated: a creamy fruit salad of peach, apple, mango, honeydew melon, green grape & subtle banana. There is an honest sweetness evolved from rice; a tasty, juicy & neat profile; medium-bodied with lovely, elegant umami & fresh acidity.
As with its Kameno-o sibling, chilling this sake right down doesn’t give it the best light (although it is still delicious) as its allure is the perfect balance between composed umami and fruitiness, by chilling it too much you mute that. We recommend a temperature of around 10 deg C which really allows the fruity notes to shine and the umami to play an active & supportive role.
Tatenokawa SHIELD Soube Wase is generous with food pairings. As with its sibling grilled vegetables are great (asparagus, smoky aubergine, artichoke); also prosciutto, burrata, extra virgin olive oil, goat’s cheese, slow-cooked lamb, citrus, sweet types of fish and raw meats to name but a few.
This sake really is a dream, we highly recommend it!
Some Info on the Resurrection of Soube Wase
In the notes on SHIELD Kameno-o we discovered how Kameno-o is actually a natural mutation from Soube Wase, first discovered in 1896 by industrious rice farmer, Kameji Abe. Of course this means Soube Wase pre-dates Kameno-o and – arguably – can be called its parent. Tatenokawa CEO, Junpei Sato, discovered this lineage whilst researching Shonai region (where Tatenokawa is based) rice cultivation history, he explains:
“I found data showing that, historically, the Shonai region of Yamagata Prefecture, where TATENOKAWA is located, was very active in a variety of rice development…
…it showed that individual farmers took the initiative in improving rice varieties and developing new varieties, which is unthinkable nowadays. I couldn’t help but respect this fact…
…we must pass on the history and the great achievements of our predecessors to future generations.”
He goes on to explain how he managed to resurrect the rice variety with the dedication and hard work of a local rice farmers:
“We obtained 1.9kg of Soube Wase seeds left over from a local agricultural experiment station, and approached Mr Takashi Shoji, a local contracted farmer, about growing it. At first, he was not enthusiastic about the project, but I tried desperately to persuade him, and in the spring of 2018, we were able to start the first rice planting, starting with a small area of 0.5 hectares. The purpose of the first year’s cultivation was to test the characteristics of the variety, but also to prepare the seeds for full-scale cultivation the following year.
Because it was an old variety, the stalks of the rice were long and cultivation was difficult. I thought it was no surprise that there were no farmers who wanted to grow it, since it would probably die before the harvest, just like Kameno-o. All the newer varieties have been bred to have shorter rice stalks, which makes it easier to harvest with a combine harvester.
The following year, in the spring of 2019, we planted 1.2 hectares of Soube Wase with one more contract farmer and used this harvested rice to make sake for the first time.
The first series, SHIELD Kameno-o, was first released in March 2020, and the second series, SHIELD Soube Wase, was released in October 2020.”
Ingredients: water, rice, koji, yeast
Out of stock
Food
Food
Fragrant
Fruity
10-15°C
FOOD PAIRINGS
grilled vegetables (asparagus, smoky aubergine, artichoke); also prosciutto, burrata, extra virgin olive oil, goat's cheese, slow-cooked lamb, citrus, sweet types of fish & raw meats
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