The status quo here is status; i.e., prestige. The Principality of Monaco has an international image that is unmistakably haute. Its name exudes luxury, discernment, and quality of the highest caliber. Given those indisputable facts, let us now consider what some of its citizens are doing with Japan’s national beverage.
Well, how does the Monaco Sake Awards sound to you? Exceedingly good to me!
The Monaco Sake Awards is a sake competition held to promote cultural
exchange between Monaco and Japan. Celebrities gather in Monaco to select sake that can be enjoyed by people from all over the world.1 [emphasis added]
There can be no better way to disabuse those Japanese who view sake in a negative light than this. Nihon-shu is not a-down-and-nearly-out beverage for the down and nearly out. It is a beverage with cachet through its association with the most prestigious of all nations. It would behoove sake brewers, retail outlets, and trade organizations in Japan to publicize this eminent contest to the greatest extent possible.
Here are some photographs of last year’s event.
1https://monacosake.com/index_en.html
