Fukucho Moon on the Water

Miho Imada is one of very few women in Japan running a brewery and working as its toji, and she brews in Hiroshima, where soft water made ginjo possible in the first place. Soft water ferments slowly and unforgivingly, and handled well it gives the precision this sake runs on. Lime and melon on the nose with fennel, white pepper and allspice behind them, then ripe cantaloupe and anise on the palate, finishing on the mineral edge the water leaves. Bottled straight off the press with no charcoal filtering, so nothing is stripped out.

Serve it with shellfish, lobster and scallops especially. It also holds up to bittersweet chocolate.