Wynn partners with Japan’s premium sake brewers and showcases award-winning sakes at specially curated dinner events this year

Macao, May 15, 2025 — Throughout this year, Wynn is taking the sake experience in Macao to even greater heights with a series of world-class sake events at Wynn Palace. Home to an unrivalled sake collection of more than 180 exceptional labels, over 30 Nama Sake varieties, and a number of the world’s most sought-after sake brands in Macao, Wynn is collaborating with well-established Japanese sake breweries to host sake pairing events; will soon welcome the return of the International Wine Challenge (IWC) Trophy Celebration for the fifth time, and host the first Oriental Sake Awards (OSA) Champion sake pairing event. All of these events aim to showcase Macao as a destination for appreciating the world’s finest sake and to further build on Macao’s status as a “Creative City of Gastronomy”.

Award-winning Chef Maeda champions the sake experience at Mizumi

The MICHELIN One-Star Mizumi at Wynn Palace is already partnering with Japan’s most prestigious breweries to elevate the sake experience at Wynn. In March, Executive Chef Hironori Maeda collaborated with Zaku, renowned for its award-winning handcrafted sake from Mie Prefecture. Chef Maeda and Shinichiro Shimizu, the Sake Master from Zaku curated a special tasting menu featuring seasonal ingredients from Mie’s pristine coastal waters and farmlands to pair with the finest selection of sake by Zaku.

Chef Maeda is going to even greater lengths to make the next sake experience even better in May. On the evenings of May 23 and 24, Mizumi will pair “Grand Champion Wagyu” from Miyazaki, with aged sake from Daruma Masamune brewery – the “Champion of Sake”. Ahead of the event, Chef Maeda personally flew to Japan to attend an auction for Japan’s highest quality wagyu, where he successfully bid on the “Grand Champion Wagyu” from Miyazaki. Chef Maeda will pair his prized wagyu beef with award-winning sake from Daruma Masamune. Established 190 years ago in 1835, Daruma Masamune is a traditional Japanese sake brand located in Gifu, a city in central Japan. In 1971, sixth-generation brewer Yoshiji Shiraki decided to focus on producing aged sake, eventually discovering that leaving more of the rice grain and brewing a rich, sweet sake would result in a golden-aged sake with remarkable depth and umami. Yoshiji Shiraki’s daughter, Shigeri Shiraki is the 7th-generation brewer at Daruma Masamune, and she will be in Macao for the event.

Daruma Masamune will bring a special selection of aged sake; Usuzumi-Zakura sake with subtle hints of cherry blossoms; and an undersea aged plum wine to Macao. The aged sake from Daruma Masamune, which will be paired with the champion wagyu at Mizumi, will range from 3 years to the oldest and most rare vintage of 50 years. The Daruma Masamune Vintage Aged Sake Showa 50 (1975) is a pure Nipponbare rice sake that features a rich, mellow and lingering aftertaste. The Undersea Aged Plum Wine 2022 is a blend of plum wines made from several types of aged sake. The plum wines were aged between November 2021 and June 2022 at a depth of approximately 15 to 20 meters off the coast of Nakagi, Minamiizu. Each undersea plum wine bottle is unique, as each one is covered with special “gifts from the sea”, such as seashells and seaweed which attached to each bottle while submerged underwater for nearly seven months.

World-class sake events continue in the second half of the year at Wynn

In July, Wynn will welcome the return of the International Wine Challenge (IWC) Trophy Celebration for the fifth time. Guests are invited to engage in a masterclass of Japanese sake, a guided tasting experience, a Champion Sake Dinner and the IWC Trophy Champion Gala Dinner prepared by the award-winning chefs at Wynn. In October, Wynn will also host its first “Oriental Sake Awards” (OSA) Champion Sake pairing event featuring to pair with Champion sakes and the grand prized “Sake of the Year”. In September at Mizumi, there will be a collaboration with Tengumai to host a four-hands chef collaboration and sake pairing event. The collaborations continue in November with a special four-hands dinner in partnership with Niizawa Brewery.