Kiyosumi-Shirakawa Fujimaru Winery
Koto-ku, Tokyo
Grapes: Delaware (from Yamagata)
Type: Orange
Style: Dry, light-bodied
Colour: Pale amber
Alcohol: 11%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: No
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 5-8°C
Production: 821 bottles
Please store in a cool, dark place.
Tasting notes
The aroma of pineapple, Ramune soda drink, flower, oriental melon. Modest acidity with a bit of carbonation. Refreshing flavour of citrus flavoured tea. Recommended to drink well chilled.
Food pairing
Japanese cuisine with garlic and soy sauce such as Karaage and Gyoza, miso-marinated tofu, Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, Takoyaki, Japanese chicken dishes such as Yakitori, fish liver, Satay with spicy peanut sauce, goat cheese.
Winemaking
A new vintage of Daidai-iro, which was popular last year, has arrived! Made from fully ripe Delaware grapes from the Okitama area of Yamagata. 2022 saw many changes in the natural environment, with a short rainy season followed immediately by a heat wave and heavy rainfall at harvest time, but their contract farmers harvested at the right time. The sugar content was the same as in previous years and there was a gorgeous sweet aroma. Daidai-iro, made every year, with its characteristic rich aroma and bitter but pleasant mouthfeel, is expressed in this vintage by a blend of two different vinifications (the previous vintages were carbonic maceration only): one is destemmed and crushed, then pressed after a skin contact for 12 days with daily punching down. The second is a semi-carbonic maceration, with the grapes selected thoroughly and partly crushed by hand in open tanks, with whole bunch grapes placed on top and sealed with a plastic sheet; after five days, the lid was opened, the grapes were crushed and fermented for five days, also with daily punching down. Each wine was matured in stainless steel tanks and blended before bottling. No sulphites added.
Each of the above mentioned two vinification methods produced wines with interestingly different characteristics and played a completely different role in the blending process. The former had a deep yellow colour, with a reserved aroma, but a longer skin contact period, which gave it a bitterness and depth similar to citrus peel, such as kumquat. The latter was bright in colour, like a fluorescent orange. It had a gorgeous aroma, like a burst of golden osmanthus or Ramune soda drink. The aroma was so strong that the taste was surprisingly subdued. The blending of these two completely different roles allowed the characteristic of the wine to be perceived as well balanced. It can be enjoyed either as an early drink or with a little ageing.
