Kamoshibito Kuheiji 2024 "Sauvage" Junmai Daiginjo

Banjo Jozo has been producing sake in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture since 1647 — nearly four centuries of unbroken brewing history. The Kamoshibito Kuheiji brand was launched in 1997 by 15th-generation master Kuheiji Kuno, whose ambition was nothing less than repositioning Japanese sake as a world-class beverage on par with the great wines of France. To pursue this vision, he acquired rice fields in Hyogo Prefecture's legendary Kurodashō region to grow the brewery's own Yamadanishiki, and in 2013 established Domaine Kuheiji in Burgundy's Morey-Saint-Denis, producing both sake from French-grown rice and actual Burgundian wine. The brewery produces exclusively ginjo and daiginjo grades and is regarded as a cult brand in Japan — intimate in scale, fanatical in quality, and deeply shaped by the French concept of terroir translated into sake.

"Sauvage" — French for "wild" — is Kuheiji's homage to Omachi, the oldest sake-brewing rice variety in Japan, first discovered in 1859 and the genetic ancestor of many modern sake rices. Where the brewery's flagship Eau du Désir is built from Yamadanishiki, Sauvage uses the same polishing and fermentation protocols but allows Omachi's wilder, earthier character to lead. The nose is gentle but complex — green grass, botanicals, and earthy koji-derived notes of clean mushroom that give way to ripe tropical fruit. On the palate it arrives with volume and surprising texture, a naturally light effervescence reminiscent of young Burgundy, and a bright bitterness on the finish like biting into fresh citrus peel. With less structural tension than Yamadanishiki, Sauvage fills every corner of the palate — bold, expressive, and completely singular. Best enjoyed in a wine glass, which is exactly what this brewery had in mind.

720ml