Myoka Rangyoku Grande Cuvée

Yeast	“The last sake to adorn these ‘Sake Stories’ is Myoka Rangyoku Grande Cuvée, the ultimate pride of Daishichi.”
Grande Cuvée	“Hello, Yeast. How are you doing?”
Yeast	“Can you first tell me something about the circumstances of your birth?”
Grande Cuvée	“Sure! Before I appeared, Daishichi’s highest peak was Myoka Rangyoku. As you know, Myoka Rangyoku was very successful as a rich junmai daiginjo of unprecedented scale. Not only the taste of this sake was deep, but also its chronological perspective was unheard of.”
Yeast	“What do you mean by that?”
Grande Cuvée	“I should start by explaining how Myoka Rangyoku grows through the years. When it is still new, its fresh aroma is at its most vivid and splendid, but the taste is still hard, it has a large innate power that has not blossomed yet. It is so to speak still an adolescent. It is only brought to market three to four years later, after it has blossomed into a wonderfully mighty flower. In other words, when it has finally become an adult. But that is not yet the end. In again several years’ time, its splendid aroma increases in elegant composure, and on the other hand it also acquires a matured complexity and roundness. It is then in the prime of its life. This evolution progresses gradually for several years, and finally it reaches a serene old age with an unhampered translucence. That is an utterly harmonious serenity where all complexity and hot fires are hidden inside.”
Yeast	“Wow! Just like the life of a human being!”
Grande Cuvée	“Yes, and each stage has its own outstanding merits. Now listen carefully: Daishichi conceived the idea to bring those merits that normally don’t exist at the same time, together in one sake. And that is what I am, an ‘impossible’ sake. I have been made feasible by the untiring quest of the sake brewers who were pursuing their dream.”
Yeast	“Wonderful! The summit reached with Myoka Rangyoku was already very satisfying, and then to aim even higher!”
Grande Cuvée	“With July 7, 2007 as release date (associated with the ‘seven’ in the name of Daishichi), development started one year earlier. In accordance with the image of the final sake, scores of sake stocks ranging in age over a span of twenty years were selected from our precious stored sakes. Next, the proportions in which the selected stocks had to be blended were carefully tried out by meticulous tasting in quiet surroundings. That was really a magical moment, for when the focus matched accurately, we actually watched the birth of a new type of sake.”
Yeast	“The new Grande Cuvée promptly became the sake for toasting at the dinner of the wives of the leaders at the G8 Toyako Summit in 2008. Not as a free of charge donation, it was the only sake that was actually purchased by the Japanese government.”
Grande Cuvée	“That was a very high honor for me.”
Yeast	“Every three years, only about 1,000 bottles of Grande Cuvée are produced.”
Grande Cuvée	“That’s the limit if we want to make the best use of our rare stock.”
Yeast	“On the label the old woman’s mask called rojo of the Noh theater has been depicted.”
Grande Cuvée	“That’s my emblem. The rojo pieces of Zeami’s Noh theater are the programs of the greatest difficulty for the actor, because past, present and the world of fantasy overlap and merge. The elation one feels when the actor succeeds in his role, is really wonderful.”
Yeast	“That’s exactly what Grande Cuvée aims for!”
Grande Cuvée	“Has that become clear to you? Time imparts limitless wisdom.”
Yeast	“Thank you very much for your explanation today and see you again!”