Mori No Shuzo is one of the youngest breweries in Japan, yet it is brimming with ambition. Kitahara Ryogo learned the ropes of the brewing trade at the family-owned Yamanashi Meijo brewery, where he played a key role in the development of Sparkling Sake. To say that he truly established this type of sake on the market would be an understatement, but a few years ago he decided to change course and start a small-scale project in Hokkaido, the rugged north of Japan. The focus was simple and clear: to produce the best sparkling sake in the country! Too many breweries treat sparkling sake as an afterthought—something produced because there is demand for it or because it is interesting, but too often just alongside the traditional sake that makes up the bulk of production and commercialization.

With Mori No Shuzo, the concept is reversed: the brewery’s flagship product is sparkling sake. Kitahara-san relocated to Hokkaido because the terroir there offers everything needed for this project to succeed: located at the foot of the Yotei mountains in the picturesque town of Rankoshi, pure and clean water is almost a given. The rice is also grown locally and, contrary to what one might expect, they chose Nanatsuboshi, a table rice that is only rarely used for the production of quality sake.

Production started last year, but in the spirit of Champagne, the sake is given time to mature and new cuvées will be released systematically over the coming 12 months. In February of this year, the first sparkling sake, ‘Upas’, was brought to market. We are therefore incredibly proud to be their first partner in Europe. You don't come across a new brewery every day, and after tasting the first sparkling sake, we knew this was a story we had to be a part of!