Domaine Nakajima
Tomi, Nagano
Grapes: Kyoho
Type: Rosé sparkling
Style: Dry, light-bodied
Colour: Medium copper
Alcohol: 11%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: No
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 5-8°c
Production: 7,218 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
Gunflint, funky, blood orange aroma. On the palate, flavour of pink grapefruit and some tropical fruits, crisp bubbles with pleasant acidity. 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, wait for the wine to become cloudy before pouring, so that you can also taste the umami of the lees.
Food pairing
Charcuterie, Gyoza, pork Shabu Shabu, cheese Dakgalbi, Kimchi, Okonomiyaki, miso-marinated tofu, Ankimo Ponzu (monkfish liver with Ponzu sauce), deep-fried oysters, pork belly confit
Winemaking
Kyoho grapes, purchased from farmers in Tomi where the winery is located, 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.
Mr Yutaka Nakajima, the owner of the winery, had trained in winemaking at four wineries in Japan and abroad before opening his winery. Immediately after opening the winery, when he decided to make wine with Kyoho grapes, a table grape specialised in Nagano Prefecture, he was faced with the challenge of how to make a wine with his originality with the grape, which is not vitis vinifera variety. He wanted to make a delicious wine that was unique but at the same time sold well because he had to think about the life of himself and his family, and he ended up with Petillant Nature Rosé 2014. The table grapes have a high water content, so he wanted to reduce the water content and intensify the flavour. To achieve this, they were either picked late or dried in the shade. He thought that late picking was difficult, given the burden on the vines. He wanted to make a cloudy wine with lees so that the wine does not taste too light. He wanted it to be sparkling so that the lees were stirred throughout. He also wanted the wine to be fermented with wild yeast and additive-free, so that it would have the gentle taste he likes. The first vintage of 2014 was difficult to open because the gas pressure was stronger than now, but when he drank it for the first time, he thought it tasted even better than he had imagined. From that point on, they repeated the trial and error process every year, and this wine is now in its ninth vintage.
