DARUMA-MASAMUNE


The History of Shiraki Brewery
The Shiraki Brewery is located in Gifu City, which stands close to the center of Japan.
Near our brewery, there is a beautiful river called the Nagara-gawa, which surrounding environment is rich in nature.
Our brewery was founded in 1835.
Approximately one hundred years ago, our brewery was severely damaged from the Nohi-earthquake.
Although it was a struggle to overcome the damages, when we finally did, we decided to name our product "DARUMA-MASAMUNE".
This was because the word "DARUMA" (Dharma doll) has a meaning deriving from the shape of the doll, "Although it falls over, it always rises"

The History of Japanese Aged Sake

In a reference from the Kamakura Era (approx.1200A.D.), there is a description of aged Japanese sake, which was matured for three, five or seven years. This matured sake was called "Ko-Shu", and it was valued highly by the upper-class people.
The "Ko-Shu", although it was not in the mainstream, had existed until the end of the Edo Era (approx.1850).
Then why did the culture of "Ko-Shu" cease, and did not reappear until now? The reasons are believed as follows:
(1) Sake is made of rice. Since rice is the mainpart of the Japanese diet, making it very important for consumption throughout the ages, breweries were not enthusiastic in using them for Ko-shu.
(2) From the Meiji Era (1867) to the end of World War II all breweries suffered severe taxation. Therefore, maturing sake was too costly to do at the time.
After World War II, the taxation was reformed, however by that time, the culture of aging sake was forgotten.



The "Ko-Shu" of DARUMA-MASAMUNE

Around 1970, the Shiraki Brewery began to make Ko-Shu because we wanted to brew sake unique and outstanding like the aged sake in the Kamakura Era.
At first, we were not able to make an accurate prediction of how the taste and aroma would change by maturing. Therefore, every year, we prepared distinctive types of sake for ingredient such as sweet type, a non-sweet type, sour type and so on. The rice is polished 30% around the grain to be the ingredient for Ko-shu. The maturing temperature is stabilized at normal temperature, the lowest being 0 degrees Celsius in the winter, and in the summer, not exceeding the highest of 26 degrees.
We think that these elements are very important to make the kind of Ko-shu that existed in the Kamakura Era.
Over the years, we became confident that this challenge was surely not a mistake. Although the results were not exactly what we imagined from the reference, our matured sake has beautiful colors with specially rich and mellow taste, making them very unique and outstanding.
This is how the Ko-Shu (aged sake) of DARUMA-MASAMUNE was born.

Currently, we are marketing various types of Ko-Shu. 3 years old, 5 years old, 10 years old and 15 years old.

We wish the name of the Japanese "Ko-Shu" would spread throughout the world in the near future.

e-mail koshu@daruma-masamune.co.jo


昭和の酒ビンテージ（1975〜1988） 　　一覧へ

1975（昭和50年）・1976（昭和51年）・1977（昭和52年）・1978（昭和53年）・1979（昭和54年）・
1980（昭和55年）・1981（昭和56年）・1982（昭和57年）・1983（昭和58年）・1984（昭和59年）
1985（昭和60年）・1986（昭和61年）・1987（昭和62年）・1988（昭和63年）

平成の酒ビンテージ（1989〜1999）　一覧へ

1989（平成元年）・1990（平成2年）・1991（平成3年）・1992（平成4年）・1993（平成5年）・1994（平成6年）
1995（平成7年）・1996（平成8年）・1997（平成9年）・1998（平成10年）・1999（平成11年）

「未来へ」　2000年〜2007年　　
・2000（平成12年）　・2001（平成13年）　　・2002（平成14年）　
・2003（平成15年）・2004（平成16年）　・2005（平成17年）　・2006（平成18年）　・2007（平成19年）
ビンテージ古酒の楽しみ方 蔵のご案内 未来へ　オリジナルラベルミュージアム

昭和の酒　　　平成の酒　　ビンテージスライドショー　　通販法表記・会社概要　　個人情報について
古酒の酒蔵　達磨正宗
合資会社　白木恒助商店
岐阜市門屋門61番地
電話　058−229−1008　FAX　058−229−1010
フリーダイヤル　0120−735−373
メールアドレス　koshu@daruma-intagesake.com

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