In 2008, Artisan SakeMaker’s Masa Shiroki began experimenting to make sparkling sake using the traditional Champagne method, Méthode Champenoise. In August 2011, Shiroki bottled his first 20 cases of Artisan SakeMaker’s MIRAI Sparkling Sake 2010 in traditional 750ml French Champagne-style bottles. MIRAI 2010 Sparkling Sake will be released at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival [...]
Press
Masa Shiroki, the first person in Canada to craft rice into sake by hand, looks around his 1,000-square-foot shop on Vancouver’s Granville Island and glances up at the catwalk-sized loft. “I want what the other [winery] guys have,” he says. “A château. With one difference—no grapes.” It’s a big dream for his little grain. click [...]
Rice defines Japan and what it means to be Japanese. Rice is my comfort food, my carbohydrate weakness. We all seem to have one – pasta, potatoes, bread – a basic staple that is often associated with our childhood and linked to our heritage. Rice takes me back to my obaachan’s (grandmother’s) cooking, to a [...]
Artisan SakeMaker, Canada’s first sake producer, is proud to offer a handmade non-alcoholic “Kasu Apple-Yuzu” and “Kasu Cherry Drink” in time to refresh for summer. This drink is made by hand at our Granville Island studio with our Artisan Kasu and is 100% natural. Great for both adults and children! KASU (Sakekasu) is the “lees” [...]
Who – Osake Artisan Sake Maker What – Junmai Sparkling Sake Where – Granville Island, Vancouver Why – Writing about Masa’s special Artisan Sake winemaker’s dinner coming up at The Mark reminded me about this sparkling sake I had stashed away for a special occasion. Well – happy September! This is about as far away [...]
Masa Shiroki, owner and sake maker at Artisan SakeMaker on Granville Island has announced that his experimental crop of sake rice (sakamai), planted on a small plot in Ashcroft in May this year, will be ready for harvest on or around September 20.
NO wonder Vancouver is often heralded as one of the world’s most livable cities. It is blessed with a snowcapped mountain backdrop and crystal blue harbors. It is also a gateway to the Inside Passage — the marvelous maze of glacier-carved fjords and forested islands that are a cruise lover’s delight. But what really sets Vancouver apart is its urban density. With sprawl kept in check by geography, the city thinks vertically. Neighborhoods overlap, apartments rise. That seems to heighten the city’s international mix, and not just when the Olympic Games are in town.
When you raise a glass of champagne, sparkling wine or whatever fine bubbly at the end of the week, spare a thought for Masa Shiroki’s New Year plans.