Swordfish with cucumber, pioppino, broad bean and misoglacé with u.yoshidagura sake from the Tedorigawa brewery. With this sake pairing and his detailed explanation of the combination, Maximilian Steiner (Steiner Hotelbetriebe) from Obergurgl, Austria, impressed the judges and won the first sake pairing contest in Europe by a narrow margin, ahead of runner-up Marie-Helen Krebs (Schloss Elmau) from Krün, Germany.

Many outstanding sommeliers and restaurateurs accepted the invitation to the contest and submitted over 120 wonderful pairings for the preliminary round.

The final of the contest took place on March 8, 2021, after the five finalists had prevailed from 64 participants. For the final, they created a new sake pairing and had to convince the jury of their combination in a seven-minute presentation. The final result was extremely close.

Sake has increasingly established itself in Europe in recent years as a food accompaniment, not only to traditional Japanese cuisine, but also to Western cuisine. However, recommending the right sake for the right dish is an art.

The finalists impressively demonstrated their mastery of this art, and they made it difficult for the distinguished jury to determine the winner.

"That was a great challenge. We saw so many creative dishes and great symbioses between food and sake. "The participants' enthusiasm for sake pairings and the contest was truly impressive," says jury chairman and sake samurai Alexander Koblinger MS, who offers his guests sake daily with fine Alpine cuisine at the award-winning Döllerer restaurant in Austria. Of course, he and his fellow jurors would have loved to taste the dishes live.

In addition to Maximilian Steiner and Marie-Helen Krebs, Paul-Valentin Fröhling, Restaurant Pauly Saal, Berlin, Kevin Wüthrich, Restaurant Dampfschiff, Thun, Switzerland, and Benjamin Zimmerling, Family Resort & Hotel Dachsteinkönig, Gosau, Austria, made it to the finals.

Maximilian Steiner was named "Master of Sake Pairing 2021" and received a trip to Japan (value €2,000). Marie-Helen Krebs won the J.S.A. Sake Diploma (value €970). All finalists will receive a brewery trophy with 12 bottles of sake each.

Here you can find the recording of the final.

You can taste the sake from the sake pairing contest

We have put together a sake package for you, which you can order now:

The special price for this is €180 including shipping within Germany (regular price €208). Shipping abroad is an additional €10. Order it directly HERE..

Please note that this package is limited.

You can find the contest trailer here:

JSS Sake Pairing Contest Trailer #1

JSS Sake Pairing Contest Trailer #2

JSS Sake Pairing Contest Trailer #3