Industry News & Events

IWA, a New Sake Brand Created by Richard Geoffroy is Unveiled in Indonesia

01 March 2022

IWA, a New Sake Brand Created by Richard Geoffroy is Unveiled in Indonesia


Shiraiwa K.K. is pleased to announce the launch of IWA, an epoch-making sake that opens up a new chapter in the thousand-year history of sake. IWA is the creation of Richard Geoffroy, who charted a course for the legendary Dom P rignon Champagne for 28 years as the fifth chef de cave. Strongly anchored in its home country, IWA 5 is made in Toyama, Japan with new and 3 traditional sake brewing methods.

With his masterful Assemblage technique, Richard Geoffroy is bringing a groundbreaking approach into sake making. The crafting of IWA 5 is synonymous with the striving for perfect balance, by design. Such an endeavor cannot be achieved through a single brew, Assemblage is the answer. IWA 5’s Assemblage adds a paradigm to the paradigm, a new layer to the long-established process of rice polishing. The art form of blending, Assemblage is IWA’s signature.


Shiraiwa is proud to release IWA 5 Assemblage 1 in Indonesia, reflecting the spirit of continual experiment, of steadily and creatively pushing the envelope. This is IWA’s contribution to the New Craft of Sake. Nothing will ever be fixed. Every single new release will be perceptibly different from the previous one, yet unmistakably IWA.


IWA was brought to life by a constellation of passionate and creative minds. Designer Marc Newson carved IWA into glass. He created the shape of the bottle by morphing traditional sake vessels and chose to finish it with an unconventionally dark, velvety sheen: such drama when the liquid is poured, like light emerging from deep shadows. Fused to the body as a thin layer of flat white glass, the mark drawn by calligrapher Mariko Kinoshita in collaboration with designer Hideki Nakajima breaks the stillness of the bottle. It’s an object made for pleasure, defined in relation with hand and skin, brimming with a warm humanity.


IWA has a definite point of origin: the site of Shiraiwa, located in the town of Tateyama (prefecture of Toyama). In the Fall of 2021, a contemporary kura designed by renowned architect Kengo Kuma will open on the site of Shiraiwa (Tateyama). Harmoniously slotted into the landscape, in profound dialogue with the history of rural architecture, it will channel the core principles of IWA: inclusivity, horizontality, community.


IWA 5 is imported and distributed exclusively by PT Pantja Artha Niaga and will be available exclusively through the online shop at www.minuman.com and at selected top restaurants in Indonesia.

Please also visit:
IWA official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iwa.sake
IWA official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IwaSakeJapan/