Plum wines of the month, Kojika and Niigata Meijo
This week we are featuring two plum wines from different regions of Japan, each with their own flavour variant.
This plum wine (umeshu) is from the most southern city in the southernmost island of Japan, Kyushu. Kyushu is famous for many things. Its mentaiko cod roe, sunny climate and shochu. The best shochu they say is made using imo (sweet potato). And the best imo shochu is found in Kagoshima. And this is what Kojika uses as its base for its plum wine, and you can tell from the taste. It gives it a plump roundness that sets it apart from the others.
If you are looking for a gift the Kojika is perfect with its ornate frosted bottle with ancient style paintings of ‘shika’ (deer). And it comes in a gift box, perfect for wrapping.
2. Yuyu Umeshu
Niigata has some say the highest snowfall on earth with the snow coming from driving weather patterns from Siberia hitting the mountain range at the back of Niigata. (It is a popular ski resort, popular with Tokyo residents as it is only 2 hours by shinkansen).
The style is clean and astringent. Would be nice with soda water and ice as well as the more traditional serving in a small wine glass with three cubes of ice. A beautiful origami style bottle (not round). And a very attractive price.
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