Mizubasho heads to a luxury hotel in Cortina with denim brand DENHAM

Nagai Shuzo, a sake brewery in Kawaba Village, Gunma Prefecture, has teamed up with premium denim brand DENHAM. Their project introduces sake in Cortina d’Ampezzo in northern Italy, host of the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The setting is the Ambra Cortina Luxury & Fashion Boutique Hotel in the centre of the town. The aim is not to sell sake as just a drink. It is to have guests enjoy it as a culture born of water, rice, fermentation and the character of the land.

Enjoying “Mizubasho” in an Alpine hotel

The hotel serves the Mizubasho series, Nagai Shuzo’s flagship brand. The still sake is “Mizubasho Junmai Daiginjo 40”. Junmai daiginjo is the top grade of sake made using only rice, rice koji and water. The “40” means the rice has been polished down to 40% of its original weight. The more of the outer rice is polished away, the fewer off-flavours and the more fragrant the sake tends to be. The hotel also offers the sparkling “MIZUBASHO PURE” and original cocktails based on Mizubasho. At the hotel’s Lanterna bar, guests can also enjoy a menu inspired by Japanese food and sake.

Denim uniforms inspired by the happi coat

Under the project, hotel staff serve guests wearing original DENHAM clothing. The garments are inspired by the happi, the traditional jacket worn at Japanese festivals. Casks, masu (square wooden vessels) and sake ware made for the collaboration are also displayed in the hotel. They are not for sale; they stand as symbols of Japanese and Italian cultures meeting. Hiroaki Negishi, head of DENHAM, said he was proud to share a deeply rooted Japanese craft with respect on an international stage. Noriyoshi Nagai, president of Nagai Shuzo, said that respect for craftsmanship had become a common language linking the two companies.

A 140-year-old brewery and bottle-fermented bubbles

Nagai Shuzo was founded in 1886. It brews with subsoil water from Mount Hotaka, close to the source of the Tone River. At Japan’s National New Sake Appraisal, it has won gold medals 19 times. MIZUBASHO PURE gets its bubbles from a second fermentation by yeast inside the bottle, with the carbon dioxide produced at that stage. The method follows the same principle as Champagne and differs from adding carbon dioxide afterwards. The sake won the Jury Prize, the top award, in the sparkling category of the Kura Master 2024.

If you visit the Dolomites while the offering lasts, the bar of the Cortina hotel is the easiest place to try it. If you are looking in European sake shops, MIZUBASHO PURE is the first candidate. Served well chilled in a Champagne flute, it shows fine bubbles and the gentle sweetness of rice. The Junmai Daiginjo 40 opens up in a white wine glass if you wait for it to warm slightly. It pairs easily with seafood starters and light mountain dishes.