Junmai Daiginjo by HeavenSake

(Image credit: HeavenSake)

Move over champagne, a new Parisian sake brand may soon be the toast of the luxury market. HeavenSake was envisioned by businessman and sake connoisseur Carl Hirschmann five years ago. ‘Drinking acidic wines, champagnes or sodas was problematic for me,’ he explains. ‘I discovered that Junmai Daiginjo sake [a pure type of sake, with no added alcohol] was three times less acidic than wine, so I stuck to sake.’ Hirschmann then partnered with publisher Benjamin Eymere and Etienne Russo, founder of fashion show production company Villa Eugénie, to launch his own brand.

HeavenSake is a Franco-Japanese collaboration, developed with Japanese sake producer Dassai and Régis Camus, winemaker of the Piper-Heidsieck champagne house since 1994. Camus visited the Dassai factory in Yamaguchi prefecture, where the launch blend, HeavenSake Junmai Daiginjo, is produced, and immersed himself in the sake-making processes. The blend’s fragrance is a composition of lily, iris, lilac, hyacinth and jasmine as well as herbal notes, while the taste is suave and fruity. In the champagne monopoly of art and fashion events, the drink is set to pose a novel alternative.

Hirschmann, Eymere and Russo developed the sleek, black bottle. ‘Sake is water-based, and its alcohol level is close to wine or champagne,’ notes Russo. ‘We wanted the bottle to reflect these elements: the purity of water, the agelessness of wine and the character of champagne.’

As for the tongue-in-cheek name, the goal was to be memorable but also explain the brand’s core values: ‘One imagines heaven as pure, light, beautiful, elegant and inaccessible,’ says Russo. ‘What more does a luxury brand want?’

As originally featured in the May 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*206)

The different rice grains used in HeavenSake's production — HeavenSake was envisioned by businessman and sake connoisseur Carl Hirschmann five years ago, after he became tired of the influx of acidic wines and champagne. Pictured: the different rice grains used in HeavenSake's production

HeavenSake in production, at the&nbsp;Dassai factory in Yamaguchi prefecture — HeavenSake in production, at the Dassai factory in Yamaguchi prefecture

Bottles of the champagne — Hirschmann, Eymere and Russo developed the sleek, black bottle. Russo notes, ‘Sake is water-based, and its alcohol level is close to wine or champagne. We wanted the bottle to reflect these elements: the purity of water, the agelessness of wine and the character of champagne’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the HeavenSake website

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.