Yukitsubaki

Yukitsubaki Shuzo, established in 1806 in Kamo City, Niigata under the name Maruwaka Shuzo, adopted the Yukitsubaki name in 1967 when the camellia was designated as the prefectural flower and tree. In 2011, the brewery converted entirely to pure-rice brewing, becoming a dedicated junmai-only producer, and developed its own yeast strain cultured from wild camellia flowers growing behind the brewery in Kamo Mountain Park. The resulting Yukitsubaki Yeast sake carries a fresh, floral character, and the brewery's Junmai Daiginjo earned a Platinum award at the 2018 SAKE selection competition judged by 35 international panelists.