On the thirtieth of June 2023, the sake of Shinano-Omachi was designated a geographical indication. The structure of that designation is unlike the others in the country.

It works in two stages. A sake must first be certified under the wider Nagano designation. Only after clearing that can it be put forward for certification as Shinano-Omachi.

The area is the city of Omachi together with Matsukawa village in Kita-Azumi district, immediately to the south, at the northern end of the Matsumoto basin.

Water is what the case rests on, and the account of it is geographically specific. Snow falls on the Northern Alps and melts. What runs on the surface enters the Kago and Kashima river systems. What travels underground surfaces again in lakes Aoki, Nakatsuna, and Kizaki, and flows out into the Nagu river. The sake is described as having little roughness, a full flavor, and a quiet aroma: colorless to pale gold, smelling of apple and pear with the scent of rice behind it. It is the first designation in the country to be built in two levels like this, one place name resting on another. The name of a city sitting on top of the name of a prefecture.