Tentaka Hawk In The Heavens Tokubetsu Junmai (720ml)

The story behind Tentaka begins with a dream. Liquor wholesaler Motoichi Ozaki, while visiting Kyoto, envisioned a hawk soaring toward the heavens, an image long associated with good fortune in Japanese culture. When he purchased a struggling, nearly bankrupt brewery in the town of Yuzukami in 1914, that dream stayed with him, and he named his new venture Tentaka, meaning Hawk in the Heavens.

The brewery sits in the Nasu Nogahara region of Tochigi Prefecture, an area ringed by mountains and three rivers that has largely avoided tourism, keeping its air and water clean. Founder Ozaki's guiding philosophy, that sake isn't truly sake unless it's dry, still shapes the brewery's style today. Tentaka is also one of only two sake producers in the world to hold triple organic certification from Japan, the United States, and the European Union.

This Tokubetsu Junmai is made from Gohyakumangoku rice polished to 45 percent, brewed with a heavy application of koji and matured for eighteen months. The result is dry, crisp, and rustic, with mixed nuts, fresh cut grass, and roasted walnut leading into a rich, medium bodied palate and a long dry finish. It's an ideal match for grilled lamb, beef, or barbecue.