The holidays are (just about) finished now and Japan is easing itself back to work. All that remains are the left-overs and empties. And they're a fine bunch indeed.
This was the pick of the sake we chose to mark the New Year – a festive dai-ginjo from the wonderful Tamagawa, in northern Kyoto-fu.
The dragon motif is of course perfect for the New Year, but it hadn't actually struck us until we got it out of the closet where we'd stored it after lugging it back from Kyoto on the Shinkansen in early November.
Truth be told, we brought back three bottles, all from that same excellent kura, as Tamagawa sake is hard to lay hands on in the Eastern Capital.
We could've (should've) brought back even more. This was the full selection on the shelf in Takashimaya Kawaramachi-Shijo (Kyoto).
If only we lived nearer...
I introduced Tamagawa and its toji (brewmaster) Philip Harper in a post earlier this year. There's little more to add, except to say it really is top sake.
