{"title":"Takahiko","description":"\u003cp\u003eTakahiko Soga has done as much as anyone to put Japanese wine on the world's radar, and he did it by chasing something very Japanese: umami, the savory, brothy depth he compares to a delicate dobin mushi soup.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoga grew up among vines in Nagano, the second son of the family behind Obuse Winery. He studied oenology at Tokyo University of Agriculture before spending ten years as farm manager at Coco Farm \u0026amp; Winery under the American consultant Bruce Gutlove. It was there that he discovered the vinifera growers of Yoichi, on the coast of Hokkaido, cool and rainy and, as he saw it, the one place in Japan with a real community of European grape growers. He founded Domaine Takahiko there in 2010.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe vines grow in soft volcanic soil and are farmed organically, which in Hokkaido's humid summers means hard lessons: rot cost him half his crop in 2012 and nearly all of it in 2013. In the cellar he does, in his words, almost nothing, relying on wild yeasts and little or no sulfur. Pinot Noir is the focus, bottled under the Nana-Tsu-Mori name alongside a Blanc de Noir and a Pinot-Zweigelt Passetoutgrains. The wines are pale, gentle and quietly savory, and almost impossible to find.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"domaine-takahiko-passetoutgrain-yoichi-nobori-2023-750ml","title":"Domaine Takahiko, Passetoutgrain 'Yoichi Nobori', 2023","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Burgundian tradition reborn six thousand miles away on Hokkaido's volcanic slopes. Takahiko Soga's Passetoutgrain is built almost entirely on Pinot Noir with a touch of Zweigelt—the Japanese stand-in for Gamay in this reimagined classic. Whole-bunch fermentation, natural methods, zero fussiness. The cool climate of Yoichi shapes a wine of ethereal texture and spiced plum character, nothing like the heavy reds Hokkaido's latitude might suggest. Production is tiny—bottles vanish almost instantly from the market. Japanese winemaking at its most fascinating.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jose Pastor Selections [JPS]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45395554009145,"sku":"NYC-JPS-`JP130523`-012326-4","price":199.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0125\/1518\/0601\/files\/Domaine-Takahiko-Passetoutgrain-Yoichi-Nobori-2023-Red-Wine-Flatiron-Wines-Spirits-New-York.jpg?v=1769698122"}],"url":"https:\/\/nyc.flatiron-wines.com\/collections\/takahiko.oembed","provider":"Flatiron Wines \u0026 Spirits NYC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}