The IWC Awards Ceremony was held at the Hilton Park Lane in London on 6 September 2011 for the 2011 Champion Trophy winners of the International Wine Competition (IWC), the world's largest wine and sake competition. The IWC has included a sake category for the past five years, and 468 sake have been submitted to the competition for tasting and evaluation by 206 breweries. The sake are judged by a twenty-strong panel of Japanese and European wine and sake experts. This year, the winner of the Champion Trophy was the Nabeshima Daiginjo by the Fukuchiyo Shuzo in Saga Prefecture. Natsuki Kikuya, Head Sommelier of Roka Restaurant, won the Sake Communicator Award in recognition of her efforts to promote Japanese sake overseas through her bilingual blog natsukipim.com.

Naoki Iimori, President of Fukuchiyo Shuzo, commented that the brewery was delighted with its win, saying “Kyushu is normally associated with shochu, but in Saga Prefecture we actually have a lot of sake breweries. We're currently looking to promote the sake of our prefecture, so I very much hope that the honour of receiving this international award will give some impetus to our campaign. Our winning sake is an orthodox ginjo type, with a wonderful balance between aroma and palate”

Natsuki Kikuya, winner of the Sake Communicator Award, was also hoping to contribute further to the promotion of sake in the UK: “Obviously I'm absolutely thrilled to have received this award. Each region in Japan has it's own tradition of sake, rich in the traditions and history of the region, and I have been very lucky to meet with many of the producers of these sake, and learn about the philosophy, values and formalities they continue to uphold as well as the new challenges they are taking on. Now, I see my role to communicate their passion for sake to consumers in London, and my challenge to be the creation of ever more sake fans – that's the mission of a sake sommelier, which is a job I feel very proud to hold”.

Natsuki also highlighted the damage suffered by many sake breweries in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami of March 11 2011, commenting that “the role of sake sommeliers has changed, I think, since the earthquake, since we are people who communicate the culture of sake and of Japan to customers overseas. I want to show my support to breweries by continuing to promote awareness and understanding of sake”.

The Champion Sake finalists are listed below. Follow the links for comments from the IWC judges:

• Dewazakura Omachi, Dewazakura Sake Brewery
• Nabeshima Daiginjo, Fukuchiyo Shuzo
• Jukusei Koshu Hidanohana Suiou, Hirata Shuzoujou
• Hidematsu Aka, Ichishima Sake Brewery
• Tengumai Yamahaishikomi-junmaishu, Shata Shuzo

The compare for the Sake Category was Sam Harrop MW, IWC Co-Chairman and a member of the Sake Samurai. He began by praising the efforts of those sake breweries affected by the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake to re-start production as quickly as possible, singling out for praise dinner attendee Koichi Saura, Sake Samurai member and President of the Saura brewery in Miyagi Prefecture, an area particularly affected by the natural disaster. “By introducing friends, family and colleagues to Japanese sake, we can help to support Japan and its sake brewers as they recover”, Sam commented. He also announced that the judging of the sake category in 2012, the sixth annual competition, would be held in Japan.

Koichi Saura also commented that holding the judging in Japan would help to reduce the stress and trouble involved in sending sake overseas for judging, export regulations having become more stringent since the natural disaster, as well as to raise the profile of the IWC in Japan itself.