石鎚バーで出張唎酒師をやらせていただきました(Ishizuchi bar in Singapore)

先日、シンガポールに石鎚バーがオープンしました。そのオープニングイベントが4月16日に行われ、そこで出張唎酒師をやらせていただきました。
Ishizuchi Bar was launched in Singapore on 16 Apr 2017 and I provided Kikisake-shi (a.k.a. Sake Sommulier) service in the opening ceremony.

当日は、中村愛媛県知事、篠田在シンガポール大使、Euporium Shokuhin社長のリム氏、そして石鎚酒造の越智専務の来賓を初め、多くのゲストの方々をお招きしての、盛大なセレモニーが行われました。
VIPs and many guest celebrated the opening.

石鎚酒造は愛媛県の小さな家族経営の酒蔵さんです。
昔ながらの手造りで、とても質の良い日本酒を造られています。
Ishizuchi Shuzo (brewery) is a small family operated brewery located in Ehime prefecture.
They produce a good quality sake in a traditional handmade method.

イベントでは、石鎚酒造のお酒2種（石鎚純米大吟醸と純米吟醸　春の酒）とカナッペが振舞われました。純米大吟醸は派手さはないけれども、とてもきれいな酒質でやさしい味わいの、職中主として楽しめるお酒です。純米吟醸春の酒は、純米大吟醸よりも小さい仕込み樽で造られた季節限定品で、もう日本では売り切れで、ここでしか手に入らないそうです。フローラルで春らしいお酒に仕上がっていました。
In the ceremony, 2 Ishizuchi sake (Junmaidaiginjo and Junmaiginjo Haruno sake) with canapes were
servied. Ishizuchi Daiginjo is has calm and moderate ginjo aroma, clean and refreshing flavor with a gentle umami balanced well with elegant acidity. Junmaiginjo Haruno sake, a limited seasonal sake in spring, has a floral aroma like spring, soft umami and comfortable acidity.

バーはリカーショップを併設していて、石鎚銘柄に関しては、日本でも石鎚のお酒がここまで揃っている酒屋さんはないのでは、というほどの石鎚ファンにはうれしい品揃えです。その他、愛媛県の日本酒を中心に他の地域の銘柄も豊富に揃っています。
The bar is also perform as a liquor store and you will find a great range of Ishizuchi brand, the other brands in Echime prefecture, and some other brands in Japan.

場所はMarina SquareのEmporium Shokuhin内です。是非、いらしてみてくださいね。
It's located in Euporium Shokuhin in Marina Square. Let's try!

Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center - Tokyo, Japan

Hello Sake and Shochu lovers,

Happy New Year 2017!
Today, I introduce a great place for you to learn and experience sake and shochu.

Must visit Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center when you visit Tokyo, Japan.

This is a very informative place for foreign sake and shochu lovers where you can get a variety of information on sake and shochu (museum and concierge) both in English and Japanese, affordable tasting from a long list of sake and shochu at the cozy table with a tablet device. I spent a very good time there to taste some sake while read articles on the tablet. Don't miss it.

Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center

A cozy cafe style atmosphere

long list of sake and shochu for tasting

They usually offer 50 varieties of sake and shochu from 100yen per glass

I chose sparkling sake, aged sake and kijoshu, today.

It's very difficult to chose from the attractive list.

Cheers!

A short trip to Ueda City

Early in the morning, I left Tokyo for Ueda City in the Eastern Region of Nagano Prefecture, which is located almost in the center of Japan. It is 190 km from Tokyo (1 hour 20 minutes by the Shinkansen, bullet train).

Ueda is a small pretty city where history and traditional landscape of the middle ages is still alive in and has become better known across the country because of the popular “Sanada Maru” television drama series broadcast in 2016 about a samurai warlord clan connected to Ueda.

Arrive at Ueda Station

The emblem (6 coins) of the Sanada clan on the wall.

The remains of Ueda Load's house. 

The high school is build there now.

Ueda Catsle Park

Ueda catsle was build in 1583 by Sanada clan, replaced by Sengoku clan in 1622, and by Matsudaira clan in 1706. 

It was dismantled, leaving only the stone ramparts and one yagura around 1868 with the end of the Edo period, the samurai 

ara and the site was made into a public park. The two yagura shown on the photo above were rebuilt in 1990s.

Only one yagura was remained

CIty view from Ueda Castle Park

Yanagimachi on Old Hokkoku Kaido (street)

where historical landscape still alive

Yummy local delights

The signature food is Soba. Fish and vegetables from the mountains

 Yummy Local Sake and Wine

Shinshu Kirei from Okazaki Brewery(left) and unfiltered nouveau from Hasumi Farm

The sake brewery and the wine shop is located on the street.　

Winery Explore in Katsunuma, Japan Vol.2 (勝沼ワイナリー巡り 2）

Date: 25 Dec, 2015

昨年に引き続き、今年も勝沼ワイナリー巡りにやってきました。

ワイナリー巡りと行っても、子連れですので、日常と違う、シーズンオフの静かでのどかな勝沼エリアの散策を楽しむことも目的です。そのため、できる限り徒歩で回ります。

Following the visit last year, our family (husband, 2 kids and myself) went to Katsunuma to explore wineries again. As this is a family event to enjoy hiking in a quiet rural landscape of off-seasonal wine production areas in Japan, we visit wineries by walk as much as possible. 

今回は６ワイナリーを回りました。
We visited 6 wineries this time.

中央本線を乗り継いで、10時前に勝沼ぶどう郷駅着。プラットホームからブドウ畑が見えます。1件目の目的地、グレースワインまでは少し距離があるので、改札を出て、そのままタクシーで向かいます。

We arrived at JR Katunuma Budougou station before 10am after changing local trains a few times. The great view of grape field in Katsunuma welcomed us! Now, we moved to the first winery by taxi as it is a bit too far to walk.

A view of grape field from the platform

５．中央葡萄酒株式会社（グレースワイン）

Grace Wine

緑のヴェールに包まれた美しい外観のワイナリーなのですが、訪れたのは冬なので、石造りの外壁に茶色いツタが巻き付いていました。それもまた味わい深い外観を演出していました。こちらは、キュヴェ三澤シリーズ、グレイスシリーズなど、各種アワード受賞の多い、海外でも知名度の高いワイナリーです。

Grace Wine is a winery with a beautiful appearance covered by green vale (left), but there was no green vale when I visited them because of winter (right). I liked the winter appearance too!!  They are also famous in overseas because of the award winning wines, such as Cuvee Misawa, Grace Koshu, etc.

早速、綺麗なテイスティングルームで試飲開始。無料と有料の試飲があります。オフシーズンのせいか貸し切り状態でゆっくりと堪能させていただきました。無料でも別々のグラスに注いでくれる寛容さ、素晴らしい。

こちらのワインは以前にも飲んだことがあるのですが、高いクオリティーで美味しいのです。それなりに値も張ります。今日のお気に入りは、グリド甲州とグレイス茅ヶ岳2014でした。
Let's start tasting now at the beautiful tasting room. As we were the only visitor at that time, maybe because of off-season, we enjoyed tasting great wines served by the proper wine tasting grasses. Grace wine produces high quality wines, thus, comes at a price. Today's my favorite wines were Gris du Koshu and Grace Kayagatake 2014!!!

６．麻屋葡萄酒
Asaya Winery

今回の訪問で一番の収穫は、麻屋さんのワインでした。

まったくのノーマークで訪問予定はなかったのですが、グレースワインの目の前にあったので、ふらっと立ち寄ってみました。
Exploring Asaya winery was the hottest event this time. In fact, I didn't pick up Asaya initially, but we just walked in because they were located just in front of Grace wine.

入口は狭いのですが、2回に上がると、広々とした明るいテイスティングルームが広がっています。そして、ワインの種類の多さに驚きました。食用のマスカットやナイヤガラのワインもあるんです。これらはアルコール低めなので女性向け。葡萄ジュースもありキッズは大喜びです。有料試飲では甲斐ノワールの樽熟成も頂けます（おいしかったです）。とても居心地のよいテイスティングルームでした。次回もまた来たいな、と思わせるワイナリーでした。
The entrance was too small to miss it, but climbing up the staircase, you will see a large bright tasting room at the 2nd floor. We were surprised to see the large varieties of wines they were producing. They produce wines from the wide variety of grape, even from muscat , Delaware, or Niagara grapes which are the eating grapes and suitable for ladies who doesn't really drink because of the low alcohol content. Kids were very happy to drink the grape juice for tasting. I tasted their Kai Noir 2012 from paid tasting selection and it was very nice. I felt so comfortable that I could not leave there. I may visit them next time again. . 

なんと、予約していなかったにも関わらず、製造現場や地下セラーも見学させていただきました。
Although we didn't book the winery tour, they brought us to look around the winery.

レストラン風　(Restaurant KAZE)

勝沼醸造直営のレストラン。ここも今回の訪問の目玉です。
麻屋さんに送っていただいたお陰で、予約に15分遅れで間に合いました。
大人は地鶏のグリルと野菜のランチセット、キッズはスペシャルお子様ランチ（要予約）をいただきました。今回は、勝沼醸造は訪問しないので、地元の食材を使ったクオリティの高いランチとワインを合わせていただきました。

Thanked Asaya for sending us, we could reached Restaurant KAZE only 15min late from the booking time. Restaurant KAZE is owned by Katsunuma Winery. Visiting the restaurant was one of the main purpose in the trip. The adults had the lunch plate of local grilled chicken and vegetables and the kids had a special kid's lunch plate (required booking). We could enjoy the great meal and their wines here though we would not visit Katsunuma Winery. Highly recommended restaurant!!! 

Outlook of Restaurant KAZE (left)
Special kid's plate (right top), lunch plate (right bottom)

ランチの後は、こんなのどかな風景の中、また歩きます。

After lunch, we enjoyed walking in the country side. Seeing the rural landscapes.

２．丸藤葡萄酒 (ルバイヤート)
Marufuji Winery (Rubaiyat)

昨年に続き、2回目の訪問です。私の大好きなルバイヤードを醸すワイナリーです。
This was the 2nd time to visit them following last year. They may be much more famous for Rubaiyat brand that is one of my favorite Japanese wine.

自由に見学もできますが、今回はまっすぐにテイスティングルームへ。
お目当てのルバイヤードシリーズを試飲させていただきます。
樽貯蔵もなかなかですが、甲州シュールリーが大好きなんです。
スタッフの方（通常、奥様）とカウンター越しにお話しできるのも楽しみの一つ。
There is a self-tour course in the winery and you can freely walk around, but we directly went to the tasting room to taste my favorite Rubaiyat wines that time. Barrel aged Koushu was great, but my favorite was still Koshu sur lie. Another fun here is you can usually talk to the knowledgeable staff (usually, the wife of the winery owner) over the counter.

Right: Koshu Sur Lie (my favorite) and Koshu barrel aged

７．フジッコワイナリー
Fujicco Winery

高速沿いの小高い丘の上まで上がってくると、フジッコワイナリーがありました。

フジッコの昆布やお豆さんで有名なフジッコ食品経営のワイナリーです。さすが大手食品会社経営のワイナリーだけあって綺麗でモダンな工場。広くて明るいテイスティングルームには数多くのワインとゼリーなどのデザート類の試食も。でも、あまりワインの印象の深いはなかったかな。
Fjicco Winery is located on the top of the hill along the highway. 
The winery is owned by the big food company. The factory was large, clean and modern. The tasting room was large and bright and we could enjoy a wide variety of wines with some dessert and food. 

８．まるき葡萄酒
Marquis Winery

ここからは下り坂で楽ちん。
そして、まるき葡萄酒へ。こちらは1891年創業で、現存する日本最古のワイン醸造所という、古い歴史を持つワイナリーです。工場見学の時間は終わってたので、テイスティングルームでワインを試飲します。こちらも今回初めて知ったワイナリーでしたが、いろシリーズの甲州がとてもおいしかったです。
It was a nice downhills all the way from Fujicco Winery to Marquis Winery. So easy to walk.
They were the oldest existing winery founded on 1891. As the tour time was over, we taste the wines at the tasting room. That was the first time for me to know them, it was happy to know they produced high quality wines. Especially, I liked Koshu of 'Iro' series.

９．蒼龍葡萄酒
Soryu Winery

少し時間があったので、最後にシャトーメルシャンに寄ってみようと思い立ったものの、シャトーメルシャンすでにクローズ。本日最長ウォークの後でのどもカラカラ、キッズもお疲れ。途方に暮れそうになっていたところ、ふと、道を挟んだ向かいに蒼龍葡萄酒の看板を発見。そして、まだ開いてる！本日2件目のウォークイン。酒屋さんのような店内で、小さなプラカップで自由に試飲できる形式でした。こちらのワイナリーも甲州種のワインでかなり賞を受賞している実力派なワイナリーなはずですが、既にかなり試飲しているせいか、残念ながら印象に残るワインはなかったなぁ。次回、ちゃんと計画して来てみよう。
As there were some time left, we decided to visit Cheateau Mercian. However, unfortunately, Chateau Mercian was already closed. I were so tired and thirsty after the longest walk today that I could not think any alternatives anymore. Then, luckily, I found the sign board of Souryu winery at the opposite side of the road and they were still open!!! Let's walk in! Here, we could taste wines with a small plastic cup by self-service, so could not really enjoy the conversation with the staff. I had some wines, but I didn't have any impressions on their wines.It could be because I already had so many kinds of wines...  I should come back to them after planning next time.

本日、6ワイナリーの訪問を終え、今回はこれで終了。昨年からの合計だと10ワイナリーを訪ねたことになります。次はまた来年！（かな）
We visited 6 wineries and finished the trip today. Hope we can explore wineries in Katsunuma again when we come back to Japan next year. 

Japanese sake seminar in MIFB2016

Hello everybody!

I had a small seminar about Japanese Sake in Malaysian International Food & Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB2016) on 27-28 July 2016.
I had this opportunity due to the request from Japan Rice and Rice Industry Export Promotion Association (JRE) who was one of the exhibitor of MIFB2016 from Japan promoting Japanese rice and sake.

Although it was a short 30 min seminar, I could introduce "WHAT'S SAKE" including the ingredients, production methods, Sake types and how to enjoy for the visitors. The most of them have not been experienced sake before. I hoped they could have more interest on sake after my talk.

I also enjoyed to taste the premium sake and rice. Especially, The taste of Narutotai Ginjo Shiboritate Namagenshu (the sake in the right of the left picture) was new to me. It is a freshly pressed sake packed in aluminium can with very oily, nutty of full body sake, yet very fresh!!! 

Cheers!

International Kikisake-shi Certification Course (25-26 July 2016)

On 25-26 May 2016, I facilitated the first International Kikisake-shi Course in Singapore.

“International Kikisake-shi”  literally means "Sake Sommelier" that are the professionals certified by Sake Service Institute International Japan (SSI) who can properly advise, supply, and sell sake to customers around the world. There are about 1,000 certified professionals (as of June 2016) around the world.

I started working with SSI closely since September 2015 to prepare to facilitate the course in Singapore and could finally held the course this time.

The course was an intensive 2 days course for the participants to prepare the examination of International Kikisake-shi.

 I had 10 serious candidates to aim to be certified as International-Kikisake-shi. They are learning not only technical knowledge of sake or tasting method but also requirements as a kikisake-shi, basic profile of alcohol beverage in general and service as a kikisake-shi

Tasted 4 different types of sake based on aroma and flavor profiles by SSI method x 2 days.

In fact, it's challenging to find suitable sake for the course due to the limited supply in Singapore, but I could manage to select 4 different types of sake for 2 days.

After the 2 day course, the candidates will take the examination on 1 Aug 2016. Hope they are doing well, Good Luck!!

Kikisake-shi Summit 2016 in Taipei (Part1)

I went to Taipei to participate in Kikisake-shi Sumit 2016 (21/5/2016-23/05/2016) in Taipei.

I arrived in Taipei on 20/5/2016 to explore Taipei because it was the first time for me to visit there while the summit and the related activities started from 21/5/2016.

On 20 May, after about 5 hours flight to Taipei from Singapore....and long queue at the immigration..... and about 1 hour bus to the city central.....I finally had a lunch in the noodle shop near the hotel.

the first meal at Taipei was beef noodle (牛肉麺) and Taiwan beer! Yammyyyyy!!

After check in the hotel, heading for Jiufen (九份) . Initially, I planned to get there by a public bus, however gave up as soon as I saw the long queue waiting for the bus. So, I decided to use a group taxi that recruiting customers at the bus stop. I think this was a very good decision, no waste of time, faster and more comfortable but not so expensive (it was 200TWD vs 106 TWD for the bus) !!!

Jiufen used to be a gold mining mountain town, and the town today exists mainly as a tourist destination remembering and celebrating Taiwanese history and culture. This town is especially popular for Japanese tourist because of the anime called Spiritual Away from Studio Ghibli and the nostalgic atmosphere from both retro Chinese and Japanese style cafés, tea houses, and souvenir shops, as well as fantastic views of the ocean.

There were many small alleys in Jiufen, I felt I got lost.... and I nearly lost my way....  At that time, it was not so crowded, but......

After light up (though still not so dark... ) 

As everybody aim to come here after the lighting up, the road is soooo crowded and the move was very slow...

This building is the model of the house in "Spiritual Away"

After Jiufen, I dropped by Taipei 101 to see the night view. The view of Taipei 101 was much more nicer than the view from Taipei 101. In fact, I always think that the view of the tower is much nicer than the view from the tower.... So, no need to go up the tower.....

Taipei 101

Din Tai Fon at Taipei 101 was so crowded, so I gave up to have dinner there. Instead, just took away the food from small shop on the way to the hotel. I enjoyed walking around Jiufen and Taipei. But I was so tired that I needed to take a rest now to prepare the main event starting from the next day. Good night!

Dinner - Soup noodle with beer!