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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペン

Yoichi, sharing natureThis part of Hokkaido is the new paradise of Japanese wine with its
emphasis on organic farming and sustainable agriculture.
15.12.2020
Words:Benoit Piquet / Photography:Pascal Viout

Situated between Otaru and Shakotan, Yoichi is a natural area, close to the Sea ofJapan, that faces the sun. It is also the new paradise of Japanese wine, as is madeevident by the wide stretches of vines that cover its meadows and slopes. Here you
will meet men and women from diverse backgrounds but who possess a sharedinterest in organic farming and sustainable agriculture.

©Pen International

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No matter where you look, everything that the eye can see is vines. For those from
Italy, France, or Napa Valley, the landscape is reminiscent of known territories.
Springing to mind are the great wine regions in France: the Bordeaux region ofcourse; Alsace; the hills along the banks of the Loire. Or Burgundy, if, like thewinegrower François Servin, that’s where you were born and raised.
‘I came across this marvellous region of almost mountainous hillsides bordered bya coastline and a cold sea. The most astonishing thing for a Burgundianaccustomed to Burgundy’s clay-limestone soil is the discovery of a virgin “terroir”,
with black soil, rich and full of alluvium, making it a promising and fertile region’,says Servin. ‘But what is even more surprising’, he adds, ‘is Hokkaido’s uniqueclimate. With freezing winters and hot and humid summers, the harvest is carriedout delicately at the beginning of October, with the risk of more than abundantsnow appearing a few weeks later. The climate is a terrible paradox for a land in theprocess of becoming a wine-producing area, as the snow makes access to the vines
impossible for part of the year, and obliges the wine-grower to give up winterpruning for a preliminary green pruning, almost in defiance of the vine’s restperiod. From the point of view of our French regions, it takes a very Japanese will,a very Japanese precision, to dare to raise vines in these regions.’

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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペン©Pen International

The rows and rows of vines obviously did not end up growing here by themselves.
They are the fruit of long hours of hard work, and were only made possible
through the force of impressive physical strength and an unwavering willpower.
Servin continues, ‘On these hillsides we can find family ventures and small
businesses, some of them micro-businesses, and some of them even producing justa few hundred bottles. But in every case we find enthusiasts! People who have had
the “luck” to start their own story, to create a family legacy, to shape a future for
their region, for their island. I say “luck” because, unencumbered by the weight offamily tradition and ancestral customs specific to each appellation, they can afford
to test, experiment, and create their own methods in the vineyard and in the cellar,
and in the end invent their own wines.’

Take for example Shigeaki Kihara in the Mongaku Valley, who moved to the areawith his wife and children after ten years of living an ordinary life in thehttps://pen-online.com/travel/yoichi-sharing-nature/?scrolled=2

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international city of Tokyo. ‘I met my wife Yuko in Hokkaido, when we were bothstudents here. When we graduated, we went to Tokyo, which seemed a necessary
step for us, in order to discover the “salaryman” lifestyle and work in a company,that kind of thing. But we promised each other from the very start: ten years, andthen we will return to Hokkaido. And that’s what we did.’https://pen-online.com/travel/yoichi-sharing-nature/?scrolled=2

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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペン©Maximilien Rehm

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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペン‘The Japanese winegrower is more precise, more meticulous, than we can imagine,’remarks Servin. ‘The grapes are painstakingly cut and examined, the seeds areseparated and then they are delicately crushed. The wine cellars are like bourgeois
Parisian living rooms—you walk through them in slippers! Hygiene is an
important element here. And then there is the tasting. The winegrower will almost
apologise for making you taste their “modest wine”, which makes it all the more
surprising when you discover clear, fruity, promising wines. Of course, the terrain
and the climate differ from what we know, but what a wonderful surprise, such
perfection! Just as in the style of Japanese cuisine, which uses simple, immediatelyidentifiable ingredients, the wines are straightforward and their aromas are varied.
The white wines whet the appetite, while the reds are mouthwatering and easy todrink, reflecting the mood and personality of the winemaker.’
It would be impossible not to mention Takahiko Soga now, an ambassador for theregion with his Takahiko estate. His wines, with ‘Nana Tsu Mori’ at the top of thelist, are being sold from one end of the archipelago to the other and far beyond,often ending up on the tables of the best restaurants. It’s a complete package:
devotion to the land, respect for life, and the desire—humbly but surely—to makehis wine a piece of the terrain and the landscape.

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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペン‘The richness of the virgin soil, the diversity in the grape varieties used, and theprecision of the Japanese winemakers give Yoichi wines an incredible finesse andpurity,’ adds Servin. ‘We know that the Japanese are passionate about organic and“natural” wines. As a winegrower myself, I was extremely surprised and amazed by
the attention to detail in the vineyard, the cellar, and the glass. In our regions,certain tastes and flavours of organic wines have yet to be defined, classified, andlisted. Are these atypical aromas really characteristic of our grape varieties? Do theycorrespond to our terroirs? In the wine press this is a matter of debate, but in Japan,
there is none of that! The wines that I have tasted in Hokkaido are crisp, sharp, andprecise. Nothing strange, nothing atypical. Combining the richness from the newsoils and the slopes, exposed to the sun and the wind, with a Japanese precision
makes these wines marvellous, and is the best way to guarantee Yoichi a radiantfuture. Recently, the English journalist Tim Atkins asked me about my favourite
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Yoichi, sharing nature / Pen ペンwine. I have not one but three: Niki Hills Vineyards, Takahiko, and Mongaku
Valley. I dare to say it loud and clear that my most striking tasting experience wasneither a Burgundy nor a Bordeaux, but a Pinot Gris from Domaine Mont! It’s ashame to not see their wines available on French tables. That day will come! Didn’t
they tell me that they wanted to make the region the “Japanese Napa Valley”? Theyare certainly capable of it.’©Maximilien Rehm

Now it is late, and time for us to go back to our accommodation for the night: theYoichi Eco-Village. Founded nearly ten years ago by Junka Sakamoto, the place is as
much a part of the ecologist community as it is a micro-farm. It is situated only a
few kilometres away from the Domaine Takahiko and Mongaku Valley vineyards.
Their landscapes are different of course, as are their personalities, but we can findthe same quiet determination, and the wild but strong, even joyful will to livealongside the land at one’s own pace.

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Junka and his team—there are five of them during our visit, each with their own
story and plan that drives them—talk about bio-dynamics, circular economies, andsustainable development. Utopia is never far away, in fact it is part of the plan. Theplace welcomes young and old, and not only those from Japan. Some come tospend a month or two here, some more. Many return year after year. Relationships
are formed, which is also why we came here—to share and exchange.
The Eco-village is hands-on; the chickens must be fed at dawn, and the wire netting
must be in place to protect them from the numerous foxes that prowl around here.
A little reassured, we make our way to the small hut that will house us this evening.
We are pleased with our day, and enriched by the new encounters, having collected
so many stories to keep and share. Tomorrow is another day.

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