Domaine Nakajima
Tomi, Nagano
Grapes: Delaware (from Yamagata)
Type: Sparkling
Style: Dry, light-bodied
Colour: Pale gold
Alcohol: 12%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: No
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 5-8°C
Production: 4,300 bottles
Please store in a cool, dark place.
Attention!
Chill the bottle thoroughly in an upright position before opening. May spill at high temperatures.
Tasting notes
Refreshing aroma of pineapple and sweet Watson pomelo. Crisp bubble with bitterness of citrus fruits such as lime and grapefruits. Pronounced acidity is well-balanced with calm melon flavour. Easy to drink. Before opening the bottle, chill the wine in the fridge standing for at least half a day and let the lees fall to the bottom of the bottle. After opening the bottle, wait for the lees to rise with bubbles from the bottom of the bottle before pouring, so that you can also taste the umami of the lees. If the lees do not rise, try turning the bottle with the mouth pointing upwards to mix the lees before drinking.
Food pairing
Grilled fish with salt, Karaage, Samgyeopsal, Hui guo rou (Twice-cooked pork), Stir-fried pork in oyster sauce, corn with butter and green dried seaweed, Tarka dhal (Indian tempered lentils), sausage, charcuterie, sashimi, white fish and scallop carpaccio
Winemaking
Delaware, originally from the USA and one of the popular table grapes in Japan, were dried in the shade for a few days to a few weeks, depending on the condition of the grapes. The flavour was concentrated and the ripe, sweet aroma was intensified. The rotten fruit was then carefully removed, lightly crushed with a self-made hand crusher and further moderately crushed with boots. Then the crushed grapes were pressed manually with a basket press over a period of half a day to one day, and then placed in a resin tank, where spontaneous fermentation began at room temperature and the alcoholic fermentation continued for approximately 10 days. As soon as it finished, it was bottled and the same grape juice was added at that time. About a month later, the fermentation finished and the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast remained in the bottle. No racking in order to allow the tastes of the lees to be enjoyed. No filtration, no additives.
The owner of the winery as well as the winemaker Mr Yutaka Nakajima has been making Petillant Rosé every year since 2014 using Nagano's speciality table grape, Kyoho. However, Shine Muscat are becoming more and more mainstream as table grapes in the prefecture, and Kyoho vines are rapidly being replaced by Shine Muscat. The Shine Muscat is not suitable for wine due to its light taste, and after much thought to make a white table wine, he decided to make it from Delaware, one of Japan's popular table grape varieties that is also an important variety for Japanese wine. He purchased the grapes from Yamagata, located in the northern-east of Japan to make a white petillant in the same way as their Petillant Rosé. This is the second vintage. The 2023 vintage is characterised by gentle bubbles compared to the 2022 vintage imported in 2023, a vintage with more moderate acidity than in previous years due to the many extremely hot days in 2023, which raised the fruitiness but made it easier for the acidity to drop.
