The First-Ever Tasting of 12 Varieties of Japanese Sake, Including IWC Medal-Winners: London’s Japan Centres to Host the Niigata Fair, a Collection of Food and Sake from the Heart of Japanese Brewing, 16-29 January 2023

NIIGATA PREFECTURE, JAPAN – Media OutReach – 22 December 2022 – The Niigata Industrial Creation Organization (NICO) is an organisation devoted to bringing greater visibility to sake and food from Niigata Prefecture, one of Japan’s leading sake-producing regions, to Europe and the United Kingdom. From Monday, January 16^th to Sunday, January 29^th, two Japan Centre food halls in London (online shopping also available) will host the Niigata Fair, presenting and selling the best of Niigata Prefecture’s sake and food products. On Saturdays and Sundays during the fair, there will be free sake tastings where visitors can compare a total of 12 brands of sake.

Niigata Prefecture is known for heavy snowfall, leading to rich nutrients from melted snow, and enjoys other great natural bounties. With its abundance of high-quality rice and water well-suited for sake brewing, Niigata has 88 sake breweries, making it Japan’s most prolific producer of high-quality sake.

In addition to the region’s classic light and dry variety with its crisp, clean flavour that does not linger, there are also a variety of mellow and sweet brands available.

Since 2018*, NICO has organised this London-based fair at Japan Centre, one of the largest Japanese food retailers in the United Kingdom and Europe, with the aim of presenting the true appeal of Niigata’s food and beverages, including sake, and helping establish them as new favourites in the region.

This year’s Niigata Fair will feature sixteen food products including rice, seasonings, Japanese sweets and soba noodles, as well as a record number of 12 brands of Niigata’s sake and other products. Sake has been gaining recognition outside of Japan in recent years, and several sake breweries that have won medals at the International Wine Challenge (IWC), the world’s largest sake competition, are included in the line-up this year.