Dassai 39 Junmai Daiginjo Sake 720ml

This outstanding Dassai 39 is an elegant, skilfully balanced medium bodied premium sake. Pours a pale, water white colour in the glass. Displays a highly engaging nose of white florals, strawberry and cream, along with green melon, honeydew, and a hint of spearmint lift. The palate is equally as pretty, velvety texture with flavours very much fruit driven rather than the more common rice and yeast notes. Green melon, white peach, and pear lead out, supported by nougat, cream, with a touch of jasmine rice and subtle sweetness on the finish the only clue to its origin.

• Sake Brewery: Asahi Shuzo
• Grade: Junmai Daiginjo
• Region: Yamaguchi, Japan
• Rice variety: Yamada-Nishiki
• Rice polishing ratio: 39%
• Alcohol: 15%
• Volume: 720ml
• Food pairing: sushi & sashimi, grilled prawns, prosciutto & melon, whitebait, grilled vegetables, cheese platter

If there ever were a role model for junmai daiginjo, this is it. Dassai “39” is a skilfully balanced sake that strikes a wonderful compromise between Dassai “23” and “45” The Yamada-Nishiki rice, is polished down to 39% of the original grain size. The plush Dassai  "39" borrows some of the best qualities from “23” and “45”  and combines them into a sake with a more subtle aroma, higher acidity, and a creamy texture. The juicy melon note provides the bouquet that fades into a crisp aftertaste.

Asahi Shuzo Co is a Japanese brewery that produces sake under the Dassai brand. Founded in 1948, it is located in the mountains of the Yamaguchi prefecture, well positioned for supplies of clean water and equipped with a 200-feet (60-meter) deep well. The brewery is unusual in focusing entirely on premium Junmai Daiginjo sake.

Top-grade Yamada Nishiki rice is sourced from contracted farms in nine different prefectures. Dassai was the first sake to be made with a centrifuge in place of a conventional press – a process reputed to achieve extra smoothness and cleaner flavours in the final sake.

The three core bottlings are labelled 23, 39 and 50, which refer to the percentage of the grain of rice remaining after polishing, or milling – the lower number is best. While 50 percent is the minimum for the Junmai Daiginjo classification, 23 is a very low percentage for sake generally.

The "23" label is correspondingly pricey, and supply is limited as multiple batches of 23 can be downgraded on assessment. In all, the process of polishing one batch requires seven days and nights – a total of 168 hours' labour.

In recent years the brewery has introduced the rare "Beyond", which is one of the most expensive sakes on the market. Unfiltered Nigori 50 and a Sparkling 50 complete the range.

The brand name Dassai means "otter festival". The name, in part, refers to the river otters which were common in the region of the brewery.

Since 2011, all Dassai products have been annually certified kosher by Chabad Tokyo Japan.

• Gold - 2013 Los Angeles International Wine Competition
• Silver - 2013International Wine Challenge
• Gold - 2012 Los Angeles International Wine Competition
• 18.5/20 - Vinum Wine Magazine