Yamanashi Meijo Shuzo with the Shichiken brand is brewed in Hakushu, a town in the city of Hokuto, which means ‘northern forest’. Located in northern Yamanashi, embraced by the majestic Southern Alps, with Mount Fuji on the horizon, 80% of Hakushu consists of pristine forest designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Running through the Hakushu forest is the Ojiro River, one of Japan’s 100 most pristine bodies of water that has long been cherished by local communities. The name of this bright clear river, ‘Ojiro’, which translates as ‘white tail’, comes from an ancient myth in which a sacred white horse inhabited this beautiful forest of Hakushu and left its tail like a river.
Hakushu is best known as the home of the Suntory Hakushu Distillery.

Yamanashi Meijo’s Shichiken brand uses water from an underground river of Mount Kaikoma, one of the highest mountains in the Southern Alps, which produces Japan’s most popular natural mineral water. With an abundant water supply, Hakushu is named after the alluvial fan consisting of white granite sand polished by the flowing waters of the Ojiro River. The waters of Hakushu are incredibly soft and supple and rich in minerals, embodying the perfect balance of nature.

Inspired by this life-giving water and reflecting the exquisite taste and texture of sake, Shichiken pursues its philosophy of brewing sake in harmony with nature to resonate with you through a glass of sake. Made with the Méthode Champenois, so we have never added CO2 or the well-known Ancestral method. The second fermentation took place in the bottle. The combination of modern and traditional sake techniques creates a diverse spectrum of flavors that run through the palate, punctuated by a spicy mousse. Vibrant in the mid-palate with notes of pear, cinnamon, toast, hay, fig, fresh almond, white flowers and a hint of melon, executed with richness, depth and freshness, cut away by a super refreshing, short finish. Due to its ‘Kijoshu’ style, instead of adding water to the fermentation, they added their base Junmai sake ‘Furin Bizan’. So this is officially a ‘fortified’ sake that has undergone Method Champenoise. How more special can it get?

Fine bubbles from the secondary fermentation in the bottle provide an elegant mouthfeel with some grip. With their elegant brewing with the pristine waters of Hakushu, Shichiken begins a new era of sake brewing.

That is why Yamanashi Meijo is a true participant of the AWA Sake association.
The Japan Awa sake Association is an association founded in November 2016 by and for Japanese breweries with Yamanashi Meijo as its famous founder. The association’s goal is to continuously improve product quality, increase brand awareness and expand into new markets.

Only those products that meet strict association standards and pass third-party quality control can receive AWA SAKE certification.
One of the standards is that the AWA Sparkling sake must have an appearance, be clearly transparent and form bubbles after it has been uncorked and poured, must have a pressure of at least 3.6 bar on the bottle and a second fermentation in the bottle. Method ‘Champenoise’ and 100% domestically grown rice is used as raw material and rated higher than 3 by the Agricultural Production Inspection Act