
Chokyu-5°
Nakano BC Co., Ltd. | Wakayama Prefecture
Nakano BC
Kainan City, Wakayama Prefecture, is surrounded by the sea and mountains and has a warm and mild climate throughout the year. Nakano BC, which started out producing soy sauce here, is dedicated to brewing sake with the spirit of "quality first" and "creativity and ingenuity."
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Nakano BC was founded in Kainan City, located on the northern coast of Wakayama Prefecture. The history of its predecessor, Nakano Shuzo Co., Ltd., began in 1932 when founder Toshio Nakano began manufacturing and selling soy sauce, and in 1949 the company was founded in its current location as Nakano Brewery Factory to manufacture shochu.
After that, they were successful in producing mirin and plum wine, taking advantage of their location in Wakayama. In 1958, the company changed its name to Nakano Shuzo Co., Ltd. and began producing the sake "Chokyu" as a sake brewery. "Chokyu" was named after the previous generation's desire to "make a sake that would be loved for a long time."
Master Brewer Takeda
Although it was called "shochu brewer's sake" at the time, its high quality gradually gained recognition over a long period of time. Twenty years after commercialization, it boasted the largest shipping volume in Wakayama Prefecture, which is proof of this. Then, in 20, it became the first sake brewer in the country to introduce an in-house brewer system, and continued to work hard to brew sake with a focus on quality.
In 2002, the company merged with Fuji Shokken Co., Ltd. and Kishu Wine Co., Ltd., and changed its name to Nakano BC. It has become a sake brewing company that offers a wide range of products, including sake, plum wine, shochu, wine, spirits, and non-alcoholic drinks.
Since its founding, Nakano BC has consistently adhered to the spirit of "quality first" and "creativity and ingenuity." Not only does it produce shochu and plum wine, but it also produces sake, and is committed to quality, creating new possibilities through challenges that cannot be found anywhere else.
In the brewery, they take great care not to damage the umami components of the rice, and in the storage warehouse, they keep the room temperature constant for each variety. Because they produce a wide variety of sake, they value the fundamentals of sake brewing and strive to brew sake carefully.
More than half a century has passed since "Chokyu" was commercialized, and the representative brand "Chokyu" was created to surpass "Chokyu". This sake is made by carefully brewing unpasteurized sake in an ice house stored at -5°C, and is so well-known that it is purchased by specialist stores. You can enjoy a fresh taste that is just like it was just born. There is also "Chokyu", a long-term ice house aged sake that has been aged for 5 years at -15°C. This masterpiece, released to the world to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Nakano BC's founding, brings out the umami, sweetness, and fruity taste of rice beyond imagination.
Within the grounds of Nakano BC is the Nagahisa Residence, named after the character "Nagahisa." It is famous as a tourist spot where you can feel the history of sake brewing, with its vast 3m1952 Japanese pond garden and a pond that is now for decoration but was originally built in XNUMX to store water for cooling shochu.
Nakano BC continues to strive to create products that are loved and needed by people, from sake and plum wine to functional foods and cosmetics. They actively hold events such as the paddle-in experience of sake brewing and tours of authentic plum wine making, and will continue to spread the sake brewing tradition that is loved by the local community and has made its mark on history from Kainan to the next generation.