Junmai Yamadanishiki

Jozan Yamadanishiki Vintage 2024

Ok this is a $20 sake in Japan which is where I brought it back from. That’s insane since it would be at least $75 here and not nearly as fresh. It’s thinner than I like, it’s like tap water thin. I like a bit more weight. It’s got a long finish. Not sweet, bit of bitterness on the end.

Here is ChatGPT which has some great points.

Name: 常山 山田錦 ヴィンテージ Jozan Yamadanishiki Vintage 2024
Rice: 100% 山田錦 (Yamada Nishiki)
Rice origin: Fukui Prefecture, Fukui City, Miyama area, Kamiajimi district (contract-grown) 
Farmer: 内田一朗 (Ichiro Uchida) 
Polish ratio: Not disclosed (非公開) 
ABV: 15% (label and brewery spec) 
Bottle: 720 ml
Brewery: 常山酒造合資会社 (Jozan Shuzo)
Location: Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture 
Brew timing: Your back label shows 製造年月 2025年7月 (manufactured/bottled July 2025).
“Vintage 2024” meaning: Jozan attaches a Vintage sticker for each brewing year in this series. 

Sake type, based on the label

Your ingredient list is rice + koji only, with no brewing alcohol listed. That is consistent with Junmai.
It does not say “Nama” or “Genshu” on the label, and the brewery recommends warming, so it is very likely a heat-treated, standard-strength food sake rather than a fragile unpasteurized bottle. Junmai definition: made from rice, koji, and water only (no added distilled alcohol).

⸻

What it’s trying to be (context)

This is from Jozan’s “地域との友和 / The Areas” concept, which is basically “show the place and the farmer,” using contract-grown rice from specific Fukui districts. Jozan’s broader house style is described as crisp, clean, and dry-leaning while still drawing out rice umami. 

⸻

What it should taste like (grounded expectations)

You can predict a lot from the combination of Yamada Nishiki plus Jozan’s stated style:
• Aroma: elegant, restrained ginjo lift rather than loud fruit, with a polished “rice sweetness” feel
• Palate: fuller mid-palate than their more linear rices, then a tidy finish
• Finish: likely clean and quick enough to keep pulling bites of food forward, not a syrupy linger

Jozan themselves describe it as “elegant, swelling fullness” typical of Yamada Nishiki, with real drinkability. 

⸻

Serving that will fit your preferences

Because you like more structure for dinner, don’t default to ice-cold.

Best starting point: 15°C (cool cellar temp). Jozan explicitly calls out ~15°C. 
This usually gives more body, more rice texture, and better length versus refrigerator-cold.

If you want more “kick” and grip with dinner: try it warmed to about 50°C (their recommendation). 
Warming tends to amplify umami, widen the palate, and make the finish feel longer. It also exposes flaws, so if it stays clean at 50°C, it’s doing its job.

⸻

Pairing (where it should shine)

This is built for food.
• Best: sushi with more fat and umami (chutoro, salmon, anago, uni), grilled items, soy-forward bites
• Also good: yakitori (salt), miso, mushrooms, lightly sweet simmered dishes
• Less ideal: extremely delicate white fish only, where you might prefer a more airy, higher-aroma ginjo style

⸻

Quick reality check on value

I see it listed around ¥3,300 for 720 ml at retail in Japan. 
For a contract-farmer, single-area Yamada Nishiki bottling from a serious Fukui producer, that’s a reasonable baseline.

The one “tell” to note: polish ratio is undisclosed. 
That is not automatically bad, but it means you judge it purely on what’s in the glass, not on a marketing spec.

⸻

Nerd corner: why Yamada Nishiki often feels “bigger”

Yamada Nishiki has a large, starchy core (shinpaku) that tends to ferment into a rounder, more integrated mid-palate than many table rices. With a brewery that aims for crisp finish, you often get a satisfying combo: volume in the middle, snap at the end.