#Me and Mead - Giou

In this installment, Mr. Matsumoto shares his thoughts on "Giou."
With his extensive background in the alcohol industry, he offers a wealth of unique insights. As someone with a deep love for spirits, he tells us about his first encounter with mead.

Meeting ANTELOPE

"My first encounter was at a mead event held at Hanshin Department Store. Opportunities to drink mead in Japan are rare, and it was my first time trying sparkling mead, so I was intrigued."

So says Mr. Matsumoto, who has been a devoted fan of our mead for many years. Running a tucked-away bar in Osaka, he has long been involved with alcohol and possesses a profound passion for it.

After meeting us at Hanshin Department Store, he happened to join our very first brewery tour event, "OPEN HOUSE." Since then, he has frequently attended our own events, such as anniversary celebrations and summer festivals.

How to Enjoy Giou

"My way of enjoying Giou is to drink it casually with whatever snacks I have on hand. Since Giou is a dry, sparkling mead, there's no need to overthink the food pairing; I just enjoy it with whatever is available."

Giou is a mead held dear to our hearts as the first batch ever brewed at the ANTELOPE facility. Because of the long production time, it often goes out of stock, but its core fanbase is steadily growing. Perhaps this ability to enjoy it in such a relaxed way, as Mr. Matsumoto does, is a unique characteristic of dry mead.

Hopes for ANTELOPE

"I look forward to collaborations using ingredients from Shiga Prefecture and partnerships between Shiga-based companies. In particular, it would be wonderful to see a barrel-swap collaboration with AMAHAGAN, the whisky produced by Nagahama Roman Beer."

Nagahama Roman Beer is a leading craft brewery in Shiga Prefecture. They also produce distilled spirits and are a fantastic company dedicated to showcasing the appeal of Shiga. As ANTELOPE also occasionally exchanges barrels with domestic whisky makers to age our mead, it would be lovely to realize a collaboration within Shiga someday.

Mr. Matsumoto is also very interested in seabed-aged wines, sakes, and shochus. I was struck by his wonderful smile as he showed us a bottle encrusted with seashells that had been aged on the ocean floor. We hope to continue expanding projects that can bring such smiles to many more people.

Thank you, Mr. Matsumoto.