{"id":3297,"date":"2024-12-12T18:22:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T09:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/?p=3297"},"modified":"2024-12-12T18:22:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T09:22:42","slug":"sake-award-2024-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/en\/sake-award-2024-results\/","title":{"rendered":"SAKE AWARD 2024: An Inside Look at the Judging Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>We are pleased to share our experience from the prestigious SAKE AWARD 2024, where our CEO Komazawa joined fellow judges Osumi and Akagi in evaluating Japan&#8217;s finest sake breweries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About SAKE AWARD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The SAKE AWARD is a distinguished competition where professional sake retailers nationwide come together to recognize outstanding sake breweries. The unique judging process involves two stages: an initial online voting round followed by an in-person tasting session. What sets this award apart is its comprehensive evaluation approach, considering not only the sake&#8217;s flavor profile but also each brewery&#8217;s narrative, concept, and the cultural context behind their creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Award Recipients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We are delighted to announce this year&#8217;s winners:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#x1f3c5; <strong>Gold Medal<\/strong>: &#8220;ABE&#8221; by Abe Shuzo (Niigata Prefecture)<br>&#x1f948;<strong>Silver Medal<\/strong>: &#8220;MIMUROSUGI&#8221; by Imanishi Syuzou (Nara Prefecture)<br>&#x1f949;<strong>Bronze Medal<\/strong>: &#8220;Ine to Agave&#8221; by Ine to Agave (Akita Prefecture)<br><strong>Special Sponsorship Award<\/strong>: &#8220;Ine to Agave&#8221; by Ine to Agave (Akita Prefecture)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notable mention goes to NIIZAWA SAKE BREWERY, which achieved remarkable success with three products reaching the top 10:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ZANKYO Junmai Daiginjo Super 7<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Toh! Hoku! Let&#8217;s Go! Nara Yoshitomo\u00d7ARABAKI\u00d7HAKURAKUSEI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HAKURAKUSEI Junmai Daiginjo &#8220;HIKARI&#8221; Kuranohana 15%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Judges&#8217; Perspectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">CEO Komazawa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-komazawa.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The gold-winning &#8216;ABE&#8217; demonstrated exceptional character in both taste and story. Additionally, &#8216;HANAKAZE&#8217; from &#8216;Ine to Agave&#8217; impressed with its innovative hop-infused brew, creating an intriguing contrast between modern flavor profiles and traditional aesthetics.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Web Division Manager Osumi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/sake-award-2024-fv-osumi.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This competition provided invaluable insights into renowned brands previously known only by reputation. While all finalists demonstrated remarkable quality, &#8216;Ine to Agave&#8217; stood out for its groundbreaking approach to sake brewing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Export Division Manager Akagi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The holistic evaluation process, incorporating brewery concepts alongside taste, offered a unique perspective. &#8216;MIMUROSUGI Kioke Bodaimoto Sparkling&#8217; particularly impressed with its harmonious blend of contemporary design and refined taste.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were also honored to meet with Nanami Watanabe, Toji of NIIZAWA SAKE BREWERY, during the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Congratulations to all participating breweries for their outstanding achievements.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are pleased to share our experience from the prestigious SAKE AWARD 2024, where our CEO Komazawa joined fellow judges Osumi and Akagi in evaluating Japan&#8217;s finest sake breweries. About SAKE AWARD The SAKE AWARD is a distinguished competition where professional sake retailers nationwide come together to recognize outstanding sake breweries. The unique judging process [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"swell_btn_cv_data":"","_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/?p=3289","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3297"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3298,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3297\/revisions\/3298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sakurasaketen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}