High Life

HIGH LIFE 81 “另外，我想知道为什么与葡萄 酒相比，清酒如此廉价？最贵的清酒 或许也就100美元。如果产品一开始 就被贴上低廉的标签，餐厅就很难赚 钱。这是个大问题。在日本，清酒一 直都很便宜，因此清酒制造商不可以 突然说，今天卖25美元，明天我就卖 55美元。当地市场就是这样，他们无 法改变。因此我知道，我必须走出日 本市场，打造一个品牌，为高端清酒 开辟市场。 “我亲自拜访了300个酿酒师 之后，选择了其中我认为最好的一个 （高木酒造的高级酿酒师 Akitsuna Takagi）。我告诉他我想帮助清酒行 业的发展，打造一个更高端的类别。 他很赞同，于是我便开始了这个清酒 项目。 “我创立了自己的高端清酒，从 而建立起一个高端级别，以助力这个 行业的发展。” 中田与高木于2017年再度携手， 在高木酒造的「十四代」品牌旗帜下， 出品了新款十四代“黑标”，仅在海 外市场发售。中田在永利皇宫「泓」 日本料理举办了一场特殊晚宴，《品》 有幸在晚宴上品尝了这款清酒。 中田的十四代与五道菜晚宴及一 系列优质葡萄酒可谓完美配搭，酒香 及口味不可思议，让人惊喜连连。 “N” was born after Nakata recognized a major flaw in the saké industry as a whole, namely the very different way it is viewed globally as opposed to locally. “Outside Japan the demand is growing for saké but inside Japan demand is gradually declining,” the football legend explains. “The other thing I wondered was why is saké so cheap compared to wine? Saké might be US$100 for the most expensive saké. It’s hard for restaurants to make money if the product is expected to be cheap in the first place. This is a big problem. In Japan, saké is traditionally cheap so a saké maker can’t suddenly say, ‘This saké is US$25 but tomorrow I’ll make it US$55’ because of the local market. They can’t change it now. So I knew I would have to go outside of Japan to create a brand and to create a market for premium saké. “I actually met 300 saké makers myself and then I chose the one I thought was the best (Takagi Shuzo brewery’s master brewer Akitsuna Takagi). I told him that I wanted to help the saké industry, that I wanted to create a more premium category. He agreed and that’s the reason I started my saké project. “I created my premium saké to create a premium category for saké to help the industry grow.”