{"title":"Suginomori Shuzo · 杉の森酒造","description":"\u003chr class=\"border-border-200 border-t-0.5 my-3 mx-1.5\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNarai-juku, Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture · Est. 2021\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eNarai-juku is one of Japan's most beautifully preserved Edo-period towns: a single straight street lined with centuries-old wooden buildings, barely changed since the days when travellers stopped here on the ancient Nakasendo highway between Edo and Kyoto. To walk through it is to step into a quieter, slower Japan. It is exactly the kind of place you would want sake to come from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eSuginomori Brewery is one of Japan's newest and highest. At 940 metres above sea level, surrounded by cedar forest, with winter temperatures dropping close to minus 20°C, it is also one of the most dramatically situated breweries in the country. The original Suginomori Shuzo on this site was founded in 1793 and counted among the Five Great Kiso Sake Brands before closing its doors in 2012. In 2021 it was carefully restored and reborn as a microbrewery, with just one master brewer overseeing every step of production in tanks of 900 to 1,800 litres, a fraction of the 3,000 to 8,000 litre tanks typical in the sake industry. Everything is made by hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe water comes from a mountain spring at over 1,000 metres, from the watershed between the Shinano and Kiso rivers, extraordinarily soft, with a hardness below 25, giving it an unusual clarity and smoothness. Rice is grown under contract by a farm in Azumino, Nagano, with the toji visiting the paddies each season. Rather than brewing only in winter as most sake breweries do, Suginomori produces year-round through a temperature-controlled room that recreates winter conditions, allowing each season's character to find its way into the sake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe result is clean, crisp, and immediately welcoming: sake with a bright freshness that comes from the altitude, the water, and the precision of small-lot brewing. Within its first year, narai won a Gold Prize at KURAMASTER and a recommendation at the International Wine Challenge. It is a delight for everyone, whether you are new to sake or have been drinking it for decades.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0276\/0579\/4904\/collections\/narai4.webp?v=1782391814","url":"https:\/\/otemba-sake.com\/collections\/suginomori-shuzo-%e6%9d%89%e3%81%ae%e6%a3%ae%e9%85%92%e9%80%a0.oembed","provider":"Otemba Sake","version":"1.0","type":"link"}