The quality of these Dassai sakes has been preserved by quick freezing, so as to be able to taste what only the company's executives taste before putting them into the world.
Asahi Shuzo Co., Ltd (Head office: Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, President: Kazuhiro Sakurai) is pleased to announce that it will be placing ten kinds of raw Dassai sake, preserved using Technican's quick freezing technology, at an auction organized by Shinwa Auction Co. The auction will take place on Saturday 29 May 2021.
About the auction placement
At Asahi Shuzo, a tasting panel made up of senior members of the company checks the quality of all the sake we craft, tank by tank, in its raw, just-pressed state. Only those that have passed our strict sensory tests are actually put out into the world, after being watered down and pasteurized to adjust their alcohol content.
This time, all of the main Dassai sakes, from Dassai Beyond to Dassai 45, have been preserved without any deterioration in quality by using a unique quick-freezing technique.
This is so as to offer the opportunity to enjoy several Dassai sakes with a very different flavor to the ones usually available to the general public: flavor profiles only known to the tasting members of the brewery.
The following 10 bottles will be offered as one lot.
Asahi Shuzo: “Dassai internal tasting prototype for quality assessment, 10 bottles”
- Dassai Beyond Magnum bottle , 2300ml
- Dassai Beyond, 720ml
- Dassai 23 Hayata, 720ml
- Dassai 23 Centrifuge, 720ml
- Dassai DEX 23, 720ml
- Dassai 23, 720ml
- Dassai 39, 720ml
- Dassai 45, 720ml
- Dassai Sparkling 39, 720ml
- Dassai Sparkling 45, 720ml
The minimum bid price is set at 250,000 yen.
Due to the special freezing technology used, these sakes cannot be re-frozen in a normal refrigerated freezer. The storage and delivery method can be discussed with the bidder and it is possible to keep the lot frozen at -30°C inside our facilities and deliver it at any time when desired by the bidder.
Background of the placement
In order to "show the world the value of Japanese sake", Asahi Shuzo became the first Japanese sake company to place six bottles of "Dassai Beyond the Beyond” at the auction house Sotheby's in autumn 2020.
The auction was held in Hong Kong and the highest bid was approximately 843,750 yen for one 720ml bottle, and all six bottles sold for more than expected.
In order to continue to increase the value of sake overseas, we would like to see a boost from within Japan, so we decided to accept Shinwa Auction's approach and list our products.
About the day of the auction
Date & Time: Saturday 29th May from 13:00
Venue: Ginza Medical Building B1F and 1F https://www.shinwa-auction.com/course/access2/
How to register: Pre-registration is required to enter and participate in the auction. Registration is free, but it may take a few days to verify your identity. If you are unable to attend on the day, please use the "Written Bidding", "Online Advance Bidding", "Telephone Bidding" or "Shinwa Auction LIVE Live Bidding".
There will also be a tasting and display of Dassai Amazake at the event.
About Shinwa Auction
Shinwa Auction Co., Ltd. (www.shinwa-auction.com/) is an auction house based in Ginza, Tokyo, which holds regular auctions of art, wine and liquor, Western antiques, modern ceramics, and Mangas, and has been in business for 31 years. It is a subsidiary of Shinwa Wise Holdings, a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (JASDAQ), and is one of the few auction houses to have a listed company as its parent company.
Shinwa Auction is committed to the fair trading and supply of high quality art, wine and liquor, and strive to develop new genres and attract quality works of art on a daily basis.
About "Tômin” (“Frozen Sleep"), the quick freezing technology used for the products placed
Liquid freezing is a method of freezing packed food in liquid (alcohol) at -30°C. It is a freezing system developed by Mr. Yamada, the representative of Technikan Co.
While normal freezers use "cold air" for freezing, Tômin uses "cold liquid" for freezing. Compared to cold air, the liquid has a much higher thermal conductivity.
Sake is susceptible to changes in quality due to light and temperature, and we recommend that sake, especially unpasteurized sake, should be enjoyed immediately after purchase to ensure its fresh taste.
In February this year we released an unpasteurized, Dassai 45 “Kanzukuri”, which has been “frozen” using this technique.
https://www.asahishuzo.ne.jp/en/news/info/004780.html
For more information on the technology, please visit the Technikan Co. website at https://technican-international.co.jp/
About Dassai
Dassai is a Junmai Daiginjo brand of sake developed by Asahi Shuzo Co. since 1990.
Dedicated to good taste, we do not have a toji (master brewer), which is the traditional production system for sake: we craft our sake ourselves.
In the pursuit of good taste, we have incorporated IT and machinery, but still have over 120 production staff making Dassai in our 12-storey head brewery.
At Dassai, we don't rest on our laurels, but rather strive to create the best sake possible through change and innovation