Tasting Notes
Made from a combination of fresh spring water, yeast, koji and the finest rice, this premium sake is carefullyfermented at a low temperature to produce its fine fruity aroma that includes delicate notes of pear, honeydew and pineapple. The taste is remarkably smooth on the palate with a creamy body that leads to a light fruit finish.
Pairing Suggestions: Suzaku is a versatile sake that complements an array of foods ranging from light fare dishes such as grilled white fish and seared scallops to rich flavored meats such as BBQ pork and beef ribs. Suzaku is a premium sake and is best enjoyed slightly chilled or at room temperature.
Suzaku is a legendary bird, a guardian of south with an elegant and noble figure.
Product Information:
Prefecture : Kyoto, Japan
Region : Fushimi
Alc/Volume : 15.5%
Size : Available in 720ml & 300ml
Class : Junmai Ginjo
Sake Meter Value : +3
Sulfite and gluten free
About Gekkeikan
Founded at the start of the Edo period
Gekkeikan was founded in 1637 by Jiemon Okura when he opened a sake brewery in Fushimi, where our head office is currently located, after moving from the Kasagi area along the upper reaches of the Kizu River in southern Kyoto Prefecture. Jiemon named his brewery “Kasagiya,” or “Kasagi Shop,” after his home town. His new location was conveniently close to where “Sanjikkokubune (traditional medium boats to transport goods and people)” loaded and unloaded the cargo they shipped along the Yodo River to Osaka. This area was constantly busy with travelers coming and going, so he was able to take advantage of his shop’s location facing a main road, and his family business prospered.
In the Edo period, Fushimi flourished as a transport hub linking Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo (now Tokyo). With a population of more than 30,000 at the time, it was believed to be the largest city after Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto. Demand for sake also increased, and there were some 83 sake producers who had been granted licenses to brew (“zoshukabu”) by 1657.
However, Kasagiya was at the time just a small sake shop selling locally in Fushimi. While it now provides sake to the entire country, and indeed the entire world, its growth to its current scale was relatively recent, and for the first 250 years of its history, Kasagiya merely operated as a local Fushimi brewery.
When Haruhiko Okura, the 14th head of the Okura family and the current President of Gekkeikan, was appointed to his position in 1997 he established our core principles to be “Quality, Creativity, Humanity.” This was a clear statement outlining the values that the company had always tacitly understood to be part of our work over successive generations: quality above all, innovation and challenges, and respecting humanity.
Our traditions have been passed down, overcoming any and all hardships through constant creativity and innovation, to establish us in a position for which the Gekkeikan brand and its laurel wreath, symbolizing victory and glory, are appropriate.
