Kaze no Mori

Made entirely from locally contracted Akitsuho rice.
On the palate, it offers a fresh pear-like aroma and a clean, refined flavour – a sharply defined, dry expression of Kaze no Mori.

Crafted with Tsuyuhakaze, a sake-brewing rice grown exclusively in Nara.
This brew evokes the aroma of firm strawberries, its fresh, vibrant sweetness wrapped in a crisp acidity distinctive to Tsuyuhakaze.

A sake more people can enjoy.
Designed to have a lower alcohol content, this sake reveals enhanced fruit notes as well as dense, full flavours.
The title "Gateway to the Next Chapter" conveys our vision of opening new possibilities for what sake can be.

Akitsuho rice can withstand high levels of polishing, and making use of this trait, we mill it down to 22%. As polishing advances, the more compact the grain's character becomes, allowing the personality of the brewing water, the largest component of sake, to come to the fore.

In this brew, you can clearly sense the mineral-rich texture of the deep underground water from the Katsuragi mountain range, a defining element of Kaze no Mori – a fresh, mineral-rich clarity that is fully revealed only at the "Height of Refinement".

Sleep Separation® is an innovative proprietary technique for separating the sake from the lees.
Without the use of any equipment except the fermentation tank (without a pressing machine, centrifuge, filters, etc.), the sake is separated from the mash free from exposure to oxygen, pressure, filter materials, metal, or plastic.

As a result, the sake obtained through this technique is precisely equal to the liquid portion of the mash itself, and of exceptional clarity: a Kaze no Mori brew of truly immaculate quality.

The unique novelty of this technique inspired the title "A New Hope".

The only sake in the Kaze no Mori range crafted to be consumed warm.
Enjoy the changing flavours that emerge with shifts in temperature, as the acids and amino acids produced by the bodaimoto starter impart layered complexity and breadth. Partially replacing the brewing water with aged sake matured for more than ten years, imbues the sake with a natural sweetness, depth, and a beautiful golden hue. Please enjoy in a glass.

As a rule, Kaze no Mori is brewed using the sake yeast, Kyokai No. 7.
In this brew, however, we step outside this rule, using Kyokai No. 6, considered to be the progenitor of modern sake yeasts. This is also the only Kaze no Mori to employ white koji.

In developing this sake, we learned about Kyokai No. 6 from Yusuke Sato of Aramasa Shuzo, a brewer with whom we have shared a close relationship for over a decade – and whose brewery is located at the site where yeast No. 6 was originally discovered.
This exchange also inspired us to make white koji.

With ALPHA 8, we have taken on the challenge of crafting a sake only possible using whole brown rice as it is – full of character and individuality. Through our proprietary heating process, the "Amorphous Method", we decrystallize the starch within the brown rice, enabling us to express a distinctive flavour and texture unseen in Japanese sake to date.

With this brew, we invite you to discover a taste deeply infused with the "Power of the Ground".