Norman 
Krug
Grande Cuvee 169ÈME Édition Brut Champagne Blend
Engagement dinner for my oldest son. Great night and a great wine. — 24 days ago
Pride Mountain Vineyards
Napa Valley Merlot 2016
Rehearsal dinner for my nephew. This was nice. Went well with the food. — 24 days ago
Nifudazake
Kamonishiki Junmai Daiginjo 13% by '24
Delicious. Borders on overly sweet but the bit of CO2 keeps it in check. Mid-weight on the palate with a light perfume on the nose, long finish mainly due to the sweetness. Here is ChatGPTs description- Kamo Nishiki “Nifuda-zake” Junmai Daiginjo – Yoshikawa Yamada Nishiki, 13% low-alc genshu, BY 24, tank 132.
What the label is telling you
• 蔵 / Brand: 加茂錦酒造 (Kamo Nishiki) in Niigata. This hang-tag style is their 荷札酒 (Nifuda-zake) series. 
• Rice (big grey characters on the right): 吉川山田錦 – Yamada Nishiki grown in Yoshikawa in Hyogo.
• 特A地区産 (left column): “Special A district” – this is the top-ranked Yoshikawa zone whose Yamada Nishiki is usually used for competition daiginjo. 
• Style: 純米大吟醸 (Junmai Daiginjo). All rice/koji, no brewer’s alcohol, high polishing. Multiple retailers list it as Junmai Daiginjo. 
• Polish: 50% seimaibuai on the Yamada Nishiki. 
• ABV: 13% (center column: アルコール分 13%). It’s brewed to that strength and sold as genshu (undiluted), so it’s naturally low-alcohol rather than watered down. 
• BY ’24: Brewing year 24 (2024–25 season).
• Tank No.: “タンクNo. 132 …” with 132 circled. That’s your specific tank within the release.
How it tends to drink
Pulling together tasting notes from several shops: 
• Aromatics: Modern, but not crazy – ripe white peach, melon, a bit of citrus; less perfumy than some Niigata daiginjo.
• Palate:
• Very clean and silky, lots of transparency.
• Clear sweetness + umami core from the Yoshikawa Yamada Nishiki, but still light because of the 13% ABV.
• Noticeable micro-fizz from retained fermentation CO₂, especially on fresh bottles, which gives a little tingle and lifts the sweetness.
• Finish carries a lemon / yellow-citrus note that keeps it bright and stops it from becoming cloying.
• Body: Think medium-minus weight: more density and umami than super-aperitif stuff, but still not in the “big genshu hammer” category you often like for bottle B at dinner. — 8 days ago
Abunaga Sake Brewery
Kaze no Mori WEEKS 2025 Aiyama 607
Name: 風の森 WEEKS 2025 (Kaze no Mori Weeks 2025)
• Rice: Aiyama (愛山) 100%
• Polish ratio: 60%
• ABV: 14%
• Sake type: Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu (純米 無濾過無加水生酒)
• Junmai = pure rice (no added alcohol)
• Muroka = unfiltered
• Nama = unpasteurized
• Genshu = undiluted (though note: 14% ABV suggests a lower-ferment genshu or partial dilution)
• Brew year (BY): 2025BY (brewed August 2025)
• Brewery: 油長酒造株式会社 (Yucho Shuzo Co., Ltd.)
• Location: Gose City, Nara Prefecture (奈良県御所市)
Ok brought this one back from Japan so it’s fresh and a limited release as noted above. It’s got some effervescence which I’m not a huge fan of but seeing in a lot of these fresh ones from Japan. Have not sat long enough to absorb back in. If you have not used ChatGPT with sake you should. It’s really good in answering questions. So this has the typical sake flavor, an effervescence but also a weird yogurt tang which evidently is on purpose since this is unpasteurized. The carbonation kills the creaminess you associate with sour cream and yogurt. From ChatGPT - That “yogurt tang but not creamy” description is dead on for fresh Aiyama-based nama. What’s happening chemically is a short-chain lactic ester (mainly ethyl lactate) blending with residual malic acid from the yeast, plus the carbonic lift. The effervescence doesn’t just tingle — it changes how your tongue perceives acidity, pushing that faint yogurt note forward while stripping away the creaminess you’d feel in a heavier sake. So instead of the rounded nama-zake lactic feel, you get something sharper — like unsweetened kefir water or sparkling Calpis.
That’s part of what Kaze no Mori aims for with their Weeks bottlings — letting you taste the micro-volatility of live sake mid-fermentation, before pasteurization smooths it out. It’s not a flaw; it’s an intentional snapshot of the fermentation in motion.
If you swirl it gently and let it sit 10–15 minutes, you’ll notice the carbonation dissipate and that tang retreat into the background, revealing more of Aiyama’s core character — ripe pear, steamed rice sweetness, and faint white flower. But if you like that “what is that?” moment — slightly wild, slightly sparkling, tang balanced by fruit — it’s best drunk exactly as you’re having it now. Cold (right out of the fridge, say 5–8°C) locks in the CO₂ and accentuates that “live” edge — the effervescence plus that lactic-malic twang that feels more like tangy minerality than cream. At that temp, Aiyama’s natural softness is suppressed, so what comes through is this precise, slightly electric sensation — like pear skin + Greek yogurt + soda water. If you let it rise toward 12–14°C, the CO₂ eases, sweetness unfolds, and the tang will start to blur into a gentler rice-fruit tone.
Because this bottle is both muroka (unfiltered) and nama (unpasteurized), it’s carrying a small live microflora load — you’re literally tasting that tension between residual yeast enzymes and trapped gas. It’s why the first sip is so vivid and almost curious — not quite sour, not quite sweet, but alive. — 24 days ago
Norman
Decanted but think that blew off some of the aromatic’s. — 5 days ago