A Pinot with a Peerless Bouquet has Appeared in Japan

A peerless bouquet, attracting the curious—a fascination not uncommon for a wine made from Pinot Noir grapes. Recently, wines with authentic Pinot qualities have been appearing in Japan a little at a time. And again this autumn, a tempting Pinot Noir has come on the Japanese scene: the Nakadana Pinot Noir, which is the first release by the Gió Hills Winery in Mimakigahara, in Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture. When the wine is poured into a glass, a fresh raspberry aroma greets the nose. This aroma gradually becomes mingled with spices and earthiness, giving an impression of voluptuousness. This is not a full-bodied wine, but the balance between fruitiness and acid is superb, with a lustrously moist finish, and comfortably lingering acidic aftertaste.

In fact, this wine was made at a contract winery by its creator, Hayato Tomioka, because the wine debuted before the opening of his own Gió Hills Winery, scheduled for this coming autumn. Another first for him was to use wild yeast. Having cultivated Pinot Noir grapes since 2010, this was his first abundant harvest, so he decided to give wild yeast a try. A vintner in the contract winery had a wealth of experience in fermenting with wild yeast, and encouraged Tomioka to take up the challenge.

‘Will this really ferment properly? Will the fermentation stop because of the cold? Those and other questions tantalized me’, admits Tomioka. Alternating layers of destemmed grapes and whole grape clusters were prepared, and five days passed. Then the wine began to ferment. In order to prevent the temperature from rising to the point of generating an offensive odor, the temperature was carefully kept under control. The resulting wine is a complex, peerless Pinot Noir.

This year, Tomioka is looking forward to fermenting the first batch in his own winery. And this is the first year he will be fermenting with machinery. Everything will be done using cultivated yeast. ‘Once I’ve assessed my first batch at the new winery, I want to take up the challenge of using wild yeast again. At the same time, I feel it’s important to get a better understanding of the quality/nature/profile of Mimakigahara grapes’. The winery opened on November 1, 2018. Next time you find yourself in the middle of Nagano’s natural beauty, wouldn’t you like a sip of Pinot Noir?