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Hyogo to host 10th International Wine Challenge Sake competition

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Hyogo Prefecture will host the 10th International Wine Challenge Sake competition in May, following an agreement signed between Hyogo Gov Toshizo Ido and Andrew Reed, managing director of the International Wine Challenge. Supported by a committee of related cities and organizations, Hyogo prefecture will host the three-day competition, commencing on May 16.

The competition celebrates the 10-year collaboration between the Sake Samurai Association and the International Wine Challenge. This long-standing partnership has supported the global expansion of sake, by both boosting international awareness and exports, and increasing the popularity of sake within Japan. The IWC Sake will see a 54-strong panel of the world’s most experienced sake judges blind taste over 1,000 different entries in a celebration of the vast diversity of this enticing beverage. This is the second time the IWC Sake will be held in Japan, following a hugely successful competition in 2012.

IWC Sake Event Director Chris Ashton commented: “We are thrilled to be celebrating our 10th year of the IWC Sake by hosting the competition in sake’s homeland of Japan. Hyogo is home to some of Japan’s largest sake producers, so it was natural choice of host. Six of the last nine IWC Champion Sakes have been made using Yamadanishiki rice grown in the Hyogo region. Never before has such a experienced and vast panel of sake judges been assembled in one place and we expect to receive more entries than ever. This will truly be a spectacular event which celebrates this fantastic product.”

The panels of both Japanese and non-Japanese judges will blind taste over a thousand sake entries across a broad range of different styles and award prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals, as well as commended awards. The best examples will also be awarded IWC Sake Trophies, with the best in show being awarded champion status. The medal and trophy winners will be announced on May 20 at the Ikutru Shrine in Kobe, with the Champion Sake being named at the annual IWC Awards Dinner on July 7 in London.

Nine different categories of sake will be tasted throughout the competition, giving breweries maximum flexibility to enter their sakes. The categories have been extended this year to include: Futsu-shu, Honjozo, Junmai, Junmai Ginjo, Jumai Daiginjo, Ginjo, Daiginjo, Koshu and Sparkling. The IWC will also award Great Value Sake status to entries from any category, which receive a gold or silver medal at the competition, has a production exceeding 75,000 liters which retails below 1,000 yen and is nationally available in retail stores and online in Japan.

Last year’s competition saw the IWC Sake judging panel award 43 gold, 180 silver, 214 bronze and 296 commended, bringing the total medal count to 733. Sake produced in nine different prefectures were awarded gold medals. Champion sake of 2015 was awarded to the Homare Sake Brewery from the previously devastated area of Fukushima in Tohoku.

Rie Yoshitake, the IWC Sake Ambassador, commented: “Last year’s competition delivered a wealth of fantastic surprises with many varieties winning top prizes, and even a Fukushima brewery coming out on top. With the competition returning to Japan for the second time, we are hoping to see more styles triumph, more success stories and to encourage more people to enjoy this wonderful drink all over the globe.”

© Japan Today

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