Domaine Takahiko

Takahiko Soga founded Domaine Takahiko in 2010 in the Yoichi area of Hokkaido after working at Burgundy estates — specifically, he modelled his approach on domaine Burgundy production, farming 3 hectares of Pinot Noir biodynamically on volcanic ash soils with cool sea-influenced air from the Sea of Japan. The winery uses whole-cluster fermentation, indigenous yeast, and old French barriques — all chosen to maximise transparency to the Hokkaido terroir.

Domaine Takahiko is Japan's most celebrated Pinot Noir producer — the Nana-tsu-mori Pinot Noir (named for the seven hills of the vineyard) has been awarded Japan's finest wine honour and praised by Jancis Robinson, who tasted it at a Burgundy tasting and described it as 'convincing and complex Pinot Noir of clear terroir character'. The wine is heavily oversubscribed; allocation is available only through a lottery system in Japan.