秋の食材と合わせたいのが日本酒です。日本酒にも“ 秋” があります。秋のお酒を“ 秋あがり” や“ ひやおろし”と言い、9 月になると出荷が始まりますが、9 月9 日の重陽の節句（菊の節句とも言いお酒に菊の花びらを乗せて呑むという）に合わせて解禁する蔵もありますし、10 月1 日の日本酒の日に出荷の蔵もあります。9 月からの２カ月間くらいしか時期的に飲めないと思うと、とてもぜいたくでいて情緒豊かで、幸せな気持ちになります。
And what could go better with autumn produce than Japanese sake?
Sake has an "autumn" as well. Autumn sake is called akiagari or hiyaoroshi and starts going out in September, but some breweries release their sakes in time for the Double Ninth Festival (also called the Chrysanthemum Festival, where sake is topped with chrysanthemum petals), and some put their sake out on October 1. Realizing that this sake can only be consumed for the two-month period starting in September creates feelings of extravagance and joy.
日本に四季があるように日本酒にも四季があります。一般的に涼しくなりかける10 月中ごろから徐々にその年（年度）の酒造りが開始されます。早いところで11 月から新酒と言われるフレッシュなしぼりたてほやほやのお酒ができ上がり、瓶詰めし出荷されます。ラベルも『しぼりたて』や『新酒』の文字が目に付きます。新酒がたくさん出そろうのは1 月ごろで、春にはうすにごりなどのお酒が春酒として、夏は暑い日にもスッキリ・キリッと飲みやすい夏酒が出回ります。そして、新酒の時期から半年以上、１年近く寝かせてお酒に旨味がノッて、まろやかになった秋のお酒、秋あがりが満を持して出荷になります。この秋あがりの特徴は何と言っても“ 秋の食材に抜群に合う”ということです。秋の食材はとても楽しいです。目で見てハッと喜びが湧き、香りをかいで心が癒やされ、食べて身体中が至福になるという、もう幸せしかありません。さらにその料理を引き立てるのが秋あがり。本来の日本酒の役割というのでしょうか、それともお酒と料理の相乗効果のマリアージュと言うのでしょうか、合わさったその先は天国しか見えません。天国への階段は秋の2 カ月間にしか現れません。贅沢なひとときをぜひ味わってみてください。
Sake, like Japan, has four seasons. Sake brewing generally starts from mid-October when it starts to grow cooler. Some places start bottling and shipping freshly-brewed sake known as shinshu (new sake) as early as November. You may see labels with "shiboritate" (freshly brewed) or "shinshu" (new sake) as well. Shinshu appears on shelves in January, usu-nigori (slightly cloudy) sake appearing in spring and crisp, easy to- drink summer sake for the heat of summer. Then, there is the sake that is allowed to sit between six months to a year, its flavor maturing and turning into the mellow autumn sake known as akiagari. Characteristic of this akiagari is, more than anything, the fact that it is perfectly suited to autumn produce. Autumn produce is delightful. Everything about it is wonderful, with an appearance that brings forth feelings of joy, a scent that soothes, and the way it creates bliss throughout the entire body when eaten. What brings out the flavors of this food even further is akiagari. Perhaps it is that original role of sake, the synergy or marriage created when food and sake are paired, but what is created when they are combined can only be called heaven. The stairway to this heaven appears for just two months in the fall. Experience a moment of extravagance for yourself.
