While studying for both the Certified Sommelier and
Certified Specialist of Wine credentials, a clear delineation between Old World
and New World wines was highlighted with Old World wines highlighting specific
or unique soils or terroir with less of an emphasis of fruit and concentration
while New World wines highlighted the reverse. Is this wine fruit forward? (New
World) Or do you first perceive stone, mineral and earth? (Old World). The Old
World wines of France, Italy and Spain were considered the prototypical
forefathers while the New World wines of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand
and South Africa were considered the avant garde sire. Well, what about Japan?
We all know Japan only makes rice wine or sake
right?
From Nagano
Chateau Mercian which is part of the Kirin Company first
planted grapes in the Nagano region as far back as 1970 and in 1976 bottled
their first Nagano Merlot. In 1984 they also started propagating Cabernet
Sauvignon followed by Chardonnay and the indigenous Japanese grape, koshu. Production methods slowly
improved to the point that their 1985 Shinshu Kikyogahara Merlot won a gold
medal in an international wine competition followed by the 1990 Jyonohira
Cabernet Sauvignon taking gold, also in an international wine competition.
Currently Chateau Mercian produces six series of wines
including the Private Reserve Series of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay
and Koshu as well as Merlot and
Chardonnay based eau-de-vie, the Mariko Vineyard Series of a red Bordeaux
blend, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, the District Series which
includes several red blends, Chardonnay, Koshu,
Riesling and Koshu blends, the
Standard Series with Koshu and
Muscat, the Japan’s Bubble Series with five different sparkling wines and
finally the Land of Japan Wine Series with several different sweeter wines.
When our local Marukai Wholesale Mart advertised three
different grape based wines produced in Japan, you know I had to secure a
supply just to see what the Motherland was capable of producing.
Chateau Mercian
2013 Nagano Merlot
($45.99)
Ruby red color
with a 1 to 2mm water line. Immediate earth on the nose followed by black and
green pepper. Moderate semi-dried red fruit on the palate with a medium body
and good acid. The mid-palate does drop a little ending with a medium finish.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought this wine was a Cabernet
Franc wine from Bourgeuil in the Loire region in France.
Chateau Mercian
2014 Nagano
Chardonnay ($34.99)
Very pale straw
color with immediate river rock on the nose followed by lemon zest and a touch
of thyme. Light stone fruit with very nice balance and a seamless flow over the
palate but also with nice concentration and a medium long finish.
Chateau Mercian
2014 Ensemble
($13.99)
Mostly chardonnay
with some koshu, it also was a light
straw color with crushed rock then pineapple and poha berry with a hint of dried herbs (marjoram?). Medium full on
the palate with a glycerin-like richness and good acid. However the finish is
dominated by the acids.
I was surprised that all three wines came across as Old
World primarily because the nose gave an initial hit of earth, stones or
pebbles and the fruit qualities weren’t very pronounced. They also contained
quite a bit of acid (cold climate) which made all three wines very food
friendly
Motherland
Inspired Wines
While the following wines aren’t produced in Japan, they
were inspired by Japanese cuisine, namely sushi.
And though it might seem relatively easy to create a wine to pair with raw
seafood, it isn’t only the delicate seafood flavors you have to consider but a
wine that also balances the richest, fatty otoro
to the earthiness of shoyu to the
bite of wasabi to the delicate
flavors of hirame. It’s not that easy
when you consider all of the components of a sushi based meal.
Oroya
Oroya was created by Japanese winemaker Yoko Sato in
partnership with the Spanish wine making house Freixenet and it was a white
wine containing 60% Airen with natural fruitiness to balance the bold flavors
of shoyu and wasabi, 30% Macabeo to provide clean acid to cleanse the palate
between bites of sushi and 10% Muscat
with just enough perfume and sweet fruit to balance the fiery wasabi. Local Master Sommelier Chuck
Furuya liked the balance so much that it had a permanent place on the Hiroshi
Eurasion Tapas wine list… that is, until about a year ago when the partnership
dissolved and Oroya became just a wine memory.
Domaine Mittnacht
Frères Cuvée Gyotaku
The inspiration for Alsatian winemaker Christophe
Mittnacht to create a wine specifically for sushi
and sashimi was simply his Japanese
chef wife Yuka whose father ran a restaurant in Tokyo. The blend of 40% Pinot
Blanc, 30% Riesling, 10% Muscat, 10% Pinot Gris, and 10% Gewurztraminer is
aromatic and floral enough but also dry enough to balance flavors of shoyu and wasabi. Thankfully, this sushi
and sashimi inspired wine is still
available in the US if you look hard enough...
The Complete
Reversal
The final wine isn’t just inspired by the Motherland, it’s the national symbol for fermented beverages, sake. And not just sake but seasonal Daiginjo sake. So why did sake brewed in Japan make it to this column? It’s because sake inspired an Oxford educated Englishman to become the only foreign toji or master sake brewer. After graduating from Oxford, Philip Harper moved to Japan to teach English and living in Japan eventually inspired his love of sake enough that he started studying all things sake and in 2001 passed the Nanbu Brewer’s Guild exam to become the first and only foreign toji. He currently crafts sake for the Kinoshita Brewery in Kyoto Prefecture. I’ve sampled several of their sake and couldn’t tell you that an Englishman created it, it simply tastes like any well made sake.
Comments