A Japanese Wine: A Must-Know Brand Today.

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A Japanese Wine: A Must-Know Brand Today.

2019.5.24

There is an elegant Chardonnay which doesn’t require the excuse that it is a Japanese wine. And Mie Ikeno Chardonnay 2016 is it.

Japanese Wines using 100% grapes grown in Japan and brewed in Japan have made a remarkable progress, attracting intense attention from the rest of the world. As the woke “Japanese Wine” invokes a paradigm shift, 3 key opinion leaders who are authorities on wine rigorously selected and 12 brands of “Japanese Wines” and introduce them for us.

Mie Ikeno, Chardonnay 2016 Mie Ikeno, Chardonnay 2016

Japanese Wine selected by Tadayuki Yanagi, a wine journalist x Mie Ikeno, Chardonnay 2016

The Japanese are too tolerant when it comes to Japanese wines. Some describe the wine with a weak wine quality as delicate, and others euphemistically call a funny smelling wine as “one of a kind”. However, the wine produced by the Domaine Mie Ikeno doesn’t require such an excuse; is there any wonder if someone tests the Chardonnay from this winery with a blindfold and identifies it as a Meursault.

 

Mie Ikeno returned to Japan after being certified as the accredited brewer by the French government in a university in Montpellier in the South of France. Finding an abandoned field at the foot of Mt. Yatsugatake, she invested 3 years since 2007 to plant grape trees there. Currently, in the area of 3.6 hectares, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Pinot Noir are grown.

 

Thanks to volcanic ash soil which is a mix of sand and clay which relatively drains well, combined with over 2,400 hours of sunshine and precipitation of about 1000mm, grapes are completely ripe. On top of that, because of the location of the vineyard on the highland with an altitude of 750 m, nocturnal temperature is low which helps to keep the fresh acidity. This site covers all the ideal conditions required by the 3 breeds grown by Ikeno.

 

Chardonnay has a completely ripe grapefruit and pineapple like flavor mixed with full-bodied, voluptuous and creamy tastes.. While the Domaine’s Chardonnay has a variation called “Moon Scent” which are made from grapes harvested during the cool temperatures of the night, but we should wait for some other occasion to introduce it.

Mie Ikeno, Chardonnay 2016
Producer: Domaine Mie Ikeno
Breed: Chardonnay
Characteristics: Brewed using grapes from the winery’s own orchards. As it is such a popular brand, it is sold out at the Domaine, but can be enjoyed at the main dining of Hoshino Report Risonare Yatsugatake, which partners with the Domaine.
Hoshino Resort, Risonare Yatsugatake https://risonare.com/yatsugatake/
Price: 5,400JPY (Tax included)
https://www.mieikeno.com/

Photography by Michinori Aoki

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