- Everything starts in the fields and rice paddies -
By growing and sweating our own ingredients in the sake making process, we experience the drama of vintage and terroir that can only be felt in the fields and rice paddies. Why do we Japanese sake brewers grow rice?
Generally speaking, there has been a gap between the two: farmers grow the rice and the brewery buys it to produce sake. Someday, this commonplace will be replaced by the question: 'Can we talk about sake without knowing about rice fields?' The question came to me: "Can I talk about sake without knowing the fields?
In fact, there are very few sake breweries that grow their own rice and brew it into sake. In 2010, we began cultivating our own rice fields in Kurodasho, Hyogo and Akaban, Okayama, with the aim of breaking down the barriers between "farming" and "brewing".
By growing our own rice, we learn that there is an annual drama, such as vintage and terroir, that can only be felt in the fields. Without knowing this drama, we realise that we cannot brew the SAKE we are aiming for.