In 1979, two giants who aspire for excellence – Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild co-operated for the first time, which led to the birth of the now renowned Opus One. This masterpiece has taken the wine world by storm, and is considered a benchmark in co-venture product in the wine industry.
In recent years, there were co-venturing product evolved in the Sake market as well. Unlike the way happens in the wine world, these collaborations are mostly built between prefectures, each encompasses a number of Shuzo, often led by young brewers, which join together to producing a variety of amazing Sakes. Interestingly, those works are often highly experimental in nature, with different themes every year. Those themes are worthy to explore which open a door in understanding of the world of Sake. This is a novel Sake trend which is going to sweep Japan.
"NEXT 5", a pioneer in making co-venture Sakes, is formed by five different breweries in Akita Prefecture. Amongst the hottest is the Aramasa Shuzo. The young Kurabito Yusuke Sato has produced several stunning and highly customized projects such as AmaNeko, PinoTori, R-TYPE, using NO.6 yeast strain. With his philosophy which aims to integrate the East and the West, brought five breweries together in the prefecture to form “NEXT 5”. It is so popular in Japan which always see a run on the new release. The latest 2016 version has gone a step further – the label design is created by renowned Takashi Murakami, with a limited quantity of 150 bottles. In addition to exploring the unprecedented areas in terms of craftsmanship, it combines the traditional Sake and pop art, which successfully refresh the old-fashioned image of Sake.
1979年，兩位追求高層次的葡萄酒巨人——Robert Mondavi和Baron Philippe de Rothschild，破天荒來了一次合作，舉世知名的OPUS ONE正式誕生。今天，它依然在酒壇發光發亮，成為了無人不曉的名作。這次標誌性的合作影響深遠，也成了酒壇佳話。一款佳釀，能感受到兩地不同風格，確實是魅力非凡的酒款。
近年日本酒亦陸續推出透過不同酒藏合作而誕生的酒款。和葡萄酒世界不同，這些合作大多建於地區，聯合縣內多間酒藏，以不同方式共同釀造，釀出令市場為之驚歎的作品。共同酒多由年輕藏人領軍，創出多款市場話題之作。有趣的是，共同酒的實驗性相當高，很多共同酒每年變換不同主題。單是深入了解主題的背景，也可加深對日本酒世界的認識。這股嶄新的清酒風潮，現正風靡全日本。
「NEXT 5」是共同酒的先鋒，由秋田縣5間酒藏聯合釀製。當中要數人氣爆燈的，便非新政酒造莫屬。年輕藏主佐藤祐輔以六號酵母及自我流的方式，釀出亞麻貓、陽乃鳥、R-TYPE等作品，震撼市場。2010年在新政的領軍下，以融合東洋和西方為目標，集各家釀製技術創造出NEXT 5。在日本是火紅之作，每年推出勢必引起搶購潮。2016年的版本更邀請到知名現代美術家——村上隆設計特別版酒標，限量推出150瓶，開賣後火速斷市。除了挑戰釀造工藝上的不同領域，更成功把日本酒和流行藝術結合，讓日本酒擺脫固有老派的形象。
