Our Producers
We are obsessed with excellence, with the vision, restlessness and wisdom required to make and do something extraordinary. The magic of wine is that this drive translates to an object of emotion, one that touches you with beauty, pleasure and fascination. We believe our producers represent the greatest collection of exceptional wines in the world.
Ginga Shizuku
Ginga Shizuku comes from the Kojima Sohonten Brewery founded in 1597, making them one of the oldest active breweries in Japan. After the Kojima family became the exclusive purveyor of sake to the famous Uesugi samurai clan, the Kojima family became known as samurai royalty. Located in the Yonezawa region of Yamagata, a city known for its warrior legacy. Current president Kenichiro Kojima is the 24th generation of the legendary Kojima family.
Chiyonosono
Known as the Junmai expert, Chiyonosono was the first brewery to stop adding distilled alcohol to its sake after the rice shortages of World War II, paving the way for the popular Junmai category. Originally a rice wholesaler, Chiyonosono specializes in rice cultivation. Chiyonosono has access to heirloom strains and brews sake with distinctive rice textures and aromas. The brewery is located on the southernmost island of Kyushu—the gateway into Japan—known for Asian and European cuisine, historic architecture, and distinct regional culture. The future 5th generation president and daughter of current the current brewery president, Yuri Honda, is already making a name for herself as an innovator in the sake community and is primed to continue pushing the brewery toward forward-thinking yet approachable sake.
Takatenjin
Takatenjin is produced at the Doi Brewery. In a region of endless sunshine and pristine water sources, brewery Doi Shuzo stands out as an iconic producer of the fruity, dry style of sake that the area is known for. Takatenjin is brewed at Doi Shuzo, which is recognized for its environmentally-friendly use of solar power, on-site water treatment, and other renewable energy sources. Pure water put Shizuoka on the map for its tea production and its concentration of wasabi fields—two delicate products that require flawless water like sake does.
Taka
4th generation President/Toji Takahiro Nagayama is passionate about his estate grower-producer style sake, allowing him to brew sake that represents his personality and to reach all the people who drink it. "Taka" is the first character of Takahiro-san's name and means "noble." His unwavering discipline and commitment to technical precision results in elegant but restrained sake.
Shiokawa
Traditional but not bound by tradition, Shiokawa-san’s curiosity and scientific approach to brewing results in constant experimentation to make better sake year after year. This brewery is truly a family business, with only three employees: Shiokawa-san, his wife, and his cousin. Although Shiokawa-san first attempted making yamahai 14 years ago as an experiment, the demand for his yamahais have increased to the point where yamahai is now the majority of his total sake production.
Fukucho
Fukucho’s female brewery owner, Miho Imada, is also the Toji – a rarity in Japan to have both jobs done by the same person. Miho-san’s passion and curiosity for sake brewing is truly amazing: to date she has revived a local heirloom rice that was out of use for hundreds of years, created her own hybrid yeast starter, and experimented with brewing sake using white koji. There are around 30 female tojis in Japan, but when Miho-san started brewing there were far fewer. Her extreme dedication to her craft encourages the future of women in this industry.
Bushido
On-the-go, hassle free, premium Ginjo Genshu sake in a can. Bushido is the ancient Japanese warrior code of moral values, loyalty, and honor until death. Usually unuttered and unwritten, the code allows the violent existence of the samurai to be tempered by wisdom and serenity.
Daimon
Daimon brewery is one of very few sake breweries located in Osaka and produces sake that truly captures the spirit of the prefecture – a vibrant region that is culturally rich, colorful and known as the street food capital of Japan. Brewery president and toji, Yasutaka Daimon, is a 6th generation brewer that is also a jazz musician. Daimon-san often listens to jazz while making sake, believing that both jazz and sake go together hand in hand. Daimon is a globally minded brewery and world famous for their global sake internships along with creating the Sake Export Association to expand sake outside of Japan.
