Black Market Sake Is Bringing Three Japanese Sake Producers With a Cult Following to P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants

Many toji (master saké brewers) rarely leave their own province, let alone Japan, Mike Bennie – owner of Enmore bottle shop P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants, wine writer and co-founder of the Drink Easy Awards – tells Broadsheet. Tomorrow, September 18, his inner-west store will host three such masters.

At a free meet-the-maker event the Newtown cellar will host Akishika Shuzo (a producer of fine and mature saké with a cult following), Moriki Shuzo (who Bennie says produces “detailed sakés of exceptional drinking”) and Mukai Shuzo (who’s known for a rare red-rice strain that produces an almost rosé-like saké).

The makers are appearing at P&V thanks to Sydney-based saké importer and retailer Black Market Saké. They’ll be pouring samples of their products in the P&V shop and cellar, and there will be a range of snacks to match the drinks.

“The producers come with a feverish cult following around the world … drinkers [seek] out their small-batch wares for their diversity and expressive interpretations of saké,” says Bennie, who has visited each of the brewers in Japan. “They make amazingly pure examples alongside cloudy, fizzy pét-nat-like expressions, umami bombs and delicate styles … It’s a seriously incredible line-up of saké selected from this crew.”

Bennie opened P&V last year with some of the team from Mary’s, The Lansdowne and The Unicorn Hotel. It’s known for bringing the progressive, the prestigious, the new and the natty to Sydney's wine scene in an approachable environment. So it’s the perfect location to host saké connoisseurs and the saké curious side by side.

“It is remarkable and a huge honour they are coming to P&V,” says Bennie.

The Total Toji Takeover is tomorrow, September 18, from 5.30pm to 8pm at P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants in Enmore.