Character
The Story of Ginjō sake
Rare in perfumery, ginjō sake captures the ethereal, just-opened bloom of premium Japanese rice wine. It distills the essence of restraint and craft into a base that whispers of delicate florals, subtle warmth, and centuries of mastery.
Heritage
Sake brewing stretches back over a thousand years to Japan's Nara period (710-794 AD), when religious ceremonies first formalized rice wine production. The pivotal turning point came in 1568, when Nara brewers began pasteurizing sake at 65°C to remove spoilage organisms, granting unprecedented stability and control over the final product. This breakthrough laid the groundwork for the refined, aromatic styles that would emerge centuries later. During the Meiji era (1868 onward), brewer Yuichi Sakamoto and his contemporaries pioneered the low-temperature fermentation techniques that define ginjō, a category that did not become widely produced until roughly 50 years ago, when sake's image as a mass-market commodity gave way to appreciation for artisanal depth.
At a Glance
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Feature this note
Japan
Primary source region
Ingredient Details
Headspace capture and supercritical CO2 extraction
Fermented rice base (koji-treated rice, water, yeast)
Did You Know
"In 1568, Nara brewers discovered pasteurization at 65°C, a technique that enabled the clean, complex aromatics defining ginjō today."