Kondo Vineyard KonKon Kvevri 2020 750ml

Ryosuke Kondo planned the 2020 as the final chapter of what he called his four-part Hokkaido qvevri trial, begun with the 2017 harvest. His release note ends: "That took a long time."

Konkon is the Kondo field blend, picked from blocks where eight white varieties grow side by side: Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Kerner, Sylvaner and Riesling. In 2020, 56 percent came from the Tap-Kop farm in Mikasa, cleared in 2007 from abandoned woodland on a 15-degree east-south-east slope at 100–120 metres, and 44 percent from the Moseushi farm in Kurisawa, Iwamizawa, planted in 2011 on gentle ground and ploughed by horse. Both sit in Sorachi, Hokkaido. No chemical fertiliser or herbicide is used; the producer lists five Bordeaux-mixture sprays, one fungicide and one insecticide for the season. Picking ran from 17 to 24 October in what the Kondos call their biggest crop to date, after a hot summer brought each variety in the blocks to even ripeness.

The grapes were destemmed by hand through a net and crushed with a hand-cranked roller. Moseushi fruit went into a 750-litre Georgian qvevri, Tap-Kop fruit into a 620-litre one, and a portion of Pinot Gris on its own into a smaller vessel fired at the Shari kiln in eastern Hokkaido. After about a month of punch-downs the lids were sealed. In Hokkaido's cool cellar a year on skins had been the norm, but warmer summers made Kondo wary of stray microbes, so the Tap-Kop qvevri and the Pinot Gris were pressed in April and the Moseushi qvevri in September, then everything was blended. By the producer's account it was bottled without filtration or fining agents. Bottled on 28 September 2021 under DIAM: 1,680 bottles, made at Kurisawa Wines, the cellar the Kondos founded in 2017 with Nakazawa Vineyard.

In the glass

At release the producer described orange and clove-like spice with a savoury, pickle-like note, tannin softer than the long maceration suggests, orange-peel bitterness and umami, and northern white-grape acidity on the finish. Miyuki Katori, writing in dancyu in 2022, found pine resin, leaf mould and coriander-like spice after air, calm but firm tannin and citrus acidity. The Kondos' February 2026 note: more aromatic volume, cool freshness joined by savoury depth, now drinking well.

When to open

The producer advises standing the bottle upright until the sediment settles and the wine turns clear; our bottles carry visible sediment. Their 2026 note expects it to stay in good shape for some time, without falling apart after opening.

At the table

Our suggestion: grilled squid, pork belly braised with miso, or a firm aged cheese.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: Kondo Vineyard (kondo-vineyard.com: konkon kvevri 2020 page and About page); dancyu (M. Katori, 2022)