Katori - 90 - 19.85%
Terada Honke is an iconic brewery located in the Katori district of Chiba, Japan, renowned for its ancestral expertise in producing artisanal natural sake. Keisuke Terada, the 23rd generation owner, joined the company at the age of 25 upon marrying the heir daughter of this traditional brewery. Since then, he has passionately committed himself to modernizing and revitalizing this historic house. He initially focused on rigorous optimization of productivity, operational efficiency, and profitability through intelligent cost reduction. However, faced with a constantly shrinking Japanese sake market, these efforts were not enough to ensure the company's sustainability.
Keisuke Terada then realized that aggressive industrial methods destabilized the natural and fragile balance of microorganisms essential to sake brewing, thus compromising the authentic quality of the product. This revelation marked a decisive turning point: he refocused on the original philosophy of authentic traditional sake brewing, which he considers "the best of natural remedies." For over thirty years, Terada Honke has embodied this quest for excellence by fully valuing the potential of natural fermentation, in harmony with all the beneficial microorganisms orchestrating this powerful and nature-respecting biological process. This pioneering approach is now a benchmark in the world of premium, natural, and unaltered sakes.
The fermentation process begins when koji mold spores are delicately sprinkled onto carefully steamed rice. In about 20 hours, the mycelium visibly develops, initiating the molecular transformation of the rice while generating the characteristic heat of fermentation. The kimoto production follows an ancestral ritual: brewers sing traditional motosuri chants in unison, reinforcing the human and spiritual dimension of this craft. Then, the moromi mash is heated daily with hot water to promote the synergistic action of natural microorganisms such as nitrate-reducing bacteria, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and sake Lactobacillus, creating an environment conducive to optimal fermentation. Over the next two to three weeks, indigenous yeasts gradually establish themselves to convert sugar into alcohol, producing a complex aromatic bouquet and bubbles that testify to their effervescent activity.
The rice used is rigorously selected: pesticide-free rice polished to only 10%, thus guaranteeing purity and finesse to Katori 90. This sake is naturally made, without added yeasts or lactic acid, attesting to its authenticity and unique character. By choosing Clos des Spiritueux to offer you this treasure from Japan, you benefit from a rare tasting experience, reflecting ancestral know-how reinvented for our time.
