Honami of House of Sake has visited Tosa Brewing Company Ltd with Jennifer Docherty.
Tosa Brewing Company Ltd was founded 1877 in Northern mountainous area called “Tosa Reihoku” in Kochi prefecture in Japan.
For 140 years, Tosa Brewery has been producing high quality sake. It is based in very tranquil Tosa-gun, Tosa-cho in location of Sameura Dam, the origin of River Yoshino, which run across in the middle of Shikoku region.
Tosa Brewery is gifted with beautiful soft water and continues to produce small scaled but carefully handcrafted sake to please its followers.
The current 6th generation Muneki Matsumoto makes Japanese sake Keigetsu for his friendship.
The origin of Keigetsu is “The moon at Katsurahama Shore”. Katsurahama Shore is one of the most renowned sceneries in Japan, where the deep green of pine trees, the five coloured small gravels and the deep blue ocean create the best stage to present a beautiful moon. When you talk about Kochi prefecture, this scenery usually comes first in people’s mind. Every year on the 15th September, a memorial ceremony is held for the novelist Keigetsu Omachi from Kochi prefecture with Japanese Sake offering. Keigetsu Omachi was a famous novelist from Meiji era, who loved Japanese sake and travelling in Japan and beyond. Tosa Brewery shares the name “Keigetsu” with wishes to be the sake remembered by many in Japan and beyond.
Please take a look at Tosa Brewing Company Ltd’s beautiful terraced rice paddies at the top of the mountain in Aikawa area in Tosa. There is an amazing traditional sake brewery with well preserved wooden equipments all clean and shiny.
Tosa Brewing Company Ltd produces more than 15 different line-ups. I remember it is more than 1hour to drive up to the brewery from the airport.
Kochi prefecture offers many delicious, fresh food to enjoy with sake and the beautiful Kochi Castle, Yosakoi Dance Festival etc.
She has been working with sake for nearly 15 years and is a Kikisakeshi-qualified sake sommelier, WSET-certified educator and an International Wine Challenge(IWC) Panel Judge in the sake category.
Having trained at Leith’s School of Food & Wine and Le Cordon Bleu, Honami is a qualified sommelier and has worked at some of London’s world-renowned restaurants, including Le Gavroche, as well as luxury wine and spirits merchant Hedonism Wines.