AWARD : SAKE
SETOUCHI OLIVE SAKE Junmai-Ginjo
瀬戸内オリーブ純米吟醸
Junmai-Ginjo
Specifications
- Ingredient
- Sanuki-yoimai
- Country
- Japan
- Region
- Kagawa (Kotohira)
- Rice polishing
- 58%
- ABV
- 15%
- Volume
- 720 ml
Kagawa rice, olive yeast and a bright, fine-textured Junmai-Ginjo.
Olive yeast from Kagawa
Made with 100% Kagawa-grown Sanuki Yoimai, this Junmai-Ginjo uses Sanuki Olive Yeast isolated from the surface of olive fruit in Shodoshima. It links the bottle directly to Kagawa’s olive culture and the Setouchi region.
The yeast was developed jointly by the Kagawa Prefectural Industrial Technology Center’s Fermented Food Research Institute, the Kagawa Sake Brewers’ Association and Kagawa Prefecture. Suitable brewing yeast could not be found on olive leaves or flowers — only on the fruit’s surface — and it took roughly five years of selection and refinement to bring it to practical use.
How it tastes
Muscat, green apple and citrus lead the aroma. A gentle sweetness on the palate is trimmed fine by bright acidity, with a faint bitterness lingering as an accent on the finish.
The Muscat-like aroma stays bright throughout, with the fine texture keeping the finish light-footed and clear.
Kotohira, Kagawa — local rice and local yeast
The Nishino family’s business dates to 1658, and full-scale sake brewing began in Kotohira in 1789 — the brewery’s two founding points. The name Kinryo comes from the Confucian scholar Rai San’yō, who likened Kotohira to Jinling, an ancient capital of China.
Since the Edo period, Kinryo has been served as the sacred sake, or omiki, of Kotohira-gu Shrine — a history the brewery carries forward today.
Nishino Kinryo in Kotohira, Kagawa makes sake that gives local ingredients a visible role. The two bottles here use Sanuki Yoimai rice; Setouchi Olive Sake adds yeast isolated from olives grown in Kagawa.
At the table
Its green-fruit aroma and acid structure are built to run alongside seafood, tomato, herbs and olive-oil dishes — not because the sake itself tastes of olive, but because its aroma and palate share the same register as the food.
- Seafood
- Olive-oil dishes
- Tomato and herbs
- Light cheese
Related products
Two Kagawa-led Junmai expressions: one rice-forward, one shaped by olive yeast.
Interested in listing SETOUCHI OLIVE SAKE Junmai-Ginjo at your restaurant or retail venue? Our team can provide information on availability, storage requirements and trade terms.
