Yamaguchi Brewery 山口酒造場

Niwano Uguisu 庭の鶯

Nightingale’s in the garden

The family gardens were often the place where nightingales came to chirp and play in the water baths each day, inspiring the name “Niwa no Uguisu” or “Nightingale’s garden,” the flagship line of sake for Yamaguchi Brewery, located in the Kurume City of Fukuoka Prefecture.

The family roots to the Yamaguchi family go back to 1688 but wasn’t until 1832 that the 6th generation, Risuke Yamaguchi, established the brewery to begin its history crafting sake. Growth in size and volume came over the decades but a turning point was in the late 70’s & 80’s when the focus shifted to crafting in smaller batches and mostly junmai sakes, as well as collaborating with local agricultural high schools to grow chemical & pesticide-free sake rice to use to craft sake. These decisions helped establish Yamaguchi Shuzo as one of the premier quality producers in southern Japan. The 11th generation, Tetsuo Yamaguchi, now leads this historic brewery continuing on the path set by his ancestors and further developing new markets and products to be able to pass on to the next generations.

The brewery is located in the Chikugo Plains, an area rich in agriculture where the brewery sources some of the sake rice from contract growers. the Chikugo River runs through the plains; it is a significant source of water. Being the longest river in Kyushu, the river starts from Mount Aso in Kumamoto and flows from east to west of northern Kyushu to eventually empty into the Ariake Sea. The water quality is medium-soft and is said to contribute to the finesse and refined texture found in the sakes. Along with Yamadanishiki rice, Yume-Ikkon is often used as a blend or on its own. Yume-Ikkon is a sake-specific rice, developed in 2003 in Fukuoka, and mostly grown in the Kurume district. During the growing season, the stems are shorter compared to Yamadanishiki, which allows for better prevention against falling during periods of strong winds and rain (like the typhoon season) 

The Niwa no Uguisu sakes are clean and refined with great finesse and purity, they have wonderful restraint and easily can be sipped or complement a variety of dishes. They focus on using the number 9 yeast strain, which is the traditional strain for ginjo production, as a base for most of the sakes. Also worth seeking out are the Umeshus and Doburoku, a rich and cloudy sake with some sweetness and bright acidity.