How an Australian winemaker became the first local brewer to produce sake in Japan

It’s a rite of passage for many young Australians — teaching English in Japan and falling in love with its culture and cuisine.

But Matt Froude has gone one step further. He didn’t just enjoy drinking sake, the Japanese rice wine, he now makes and sells his own brand, Municipal, to restaurants in Australia.

Froude will be the only Australian sake maker, alongside 75 brewers from Japan, exhibiting at the 2026 Melbourne Sake Festival.

Froude now spends half the year making grape wine at a winery near Seymour in northern Victoria, and the other half making sake at a brewery in Shiga prefecture in central Japan.

“It’s definitely one out of the box,” said Froude, of his unusual career. “I don’t believe there’s anyone else doing what I’m doing.”

In the Japanese village of Yuge, Froude is a kurabito, or brewery worker, for the Matsuse family, who have made sake since 1860.

But Matsuse also allows Froude to make his own brand there in a separate tank.

This year, Froude made 150 cases, or 1800 (720ml) bottles – triple his output since his first batch in 2022.

Municipal sake is now sold in Australian bottle shops, online and at renowned local restaurants such as Supernormal and Attica, and even at Yugen and Kuro — Japanese restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney.

When teaching English in Osaka in 2002, Froude tasted some exquisite sake. “It had floral and fruity character, was really delicate, elegant, really enjoyable with food. It ticked all the boxes,” he said.

After travelling, teaching English and working as a tour guide, Froude studied winemaking, and worked in wineries around the world.

In 2018, while working at a winery in Seymour, Victoria, Froude met a client’s wife, who was Japanese, and talked to her about sake.

The woman happened to know the head brewer, or toji, of Matsuse sake brewery in Japan, and put Froude in touch.

“After emailing back and forth, they said I could come and visit,” Froude said.

He had started making his own wine in Seymour and so on his first visit to Matsuse, Froude gave 12 bottles of it to the brewers.

“They loved it. It solidified the relationship,” Froude said.

He worked for Matsuse for three months in 2019 and aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned annually.

In 2022, for a fee, Froude was allowed to make his own sake there.

“There’s a lot to love, the people are friendly, now I’m part of the team so they’re very welcoming.” He now sells two varieties of sake — Snow Mountain and Love Mountain.

In future, he wants to sell both his wine and sake in Japan. “What motivates me is always striving to make something amazing,” he said.

The Melbourne Sake Festival is on at Royal Exhibition Building on July 4 and 5.

Froude has a stall and will co-host masterclasses about pairing food with sake at 1.30pm and 6.30pm on both days.

Bookings are required.