Domaine Takahiko Yoichi Nobori 2015 750ml

Takahiko Soga's own 2015 release note promised 'umami and length not seen before' and asked buyers to wait two years; the bottle is now a decade old.

Yoichi Nobori is the line Soga makes from grapes he buys in the Nobori district of Yoichi, from growers he says he respects, which is why the label reads only 'Takahiko Soga' rather than 'Domaine Takahiko'. The Passetoutgrain is his reading of the Burgundian blend with Zweigelt standing in for Gamay, a variety he calls the red grape that represents Yoichi. From 2014 every berry has come from the Aihara vineyard in Nobori, farmed under lutte raisonnée, and the vineyard name was added to the label.

The 2015 blend is 70 percent Pinot Noir to 30 percent Zweigelt, the first vintage after Soga raised Pinot Noir above half in 2014. Fermentation was whole cluster with wild yeast, followed by twelve months in old barrels, and 4,500 bottles were filled. It was also the first Yoichi Nobori bottled without added sulphur. The season in Nobori, as Soga described it for his own Nana-Tsu-Mori that year, was fine until late September; a typhoon two weeks before harvest brought botrytis and forced careful sorting. He wrote that the 2015 Passetoutgrain carried a fine, layered scent inside a comfortable fruit and that he expected it to turn into 'a surprising vintage' with age. Japanese retailers allocated it by lottery in December 2017.

Soga founded the domaine in 2010, the second son of the Obuse Winery family in Nagano, after ten years running the vineyards at Coco Farm. On his site he explains that he puts his own name on the wine because wine is a work of nature and its maker, and that he prizes umami over minerality and forest-like aromas over fruit.

In the glass

Soga's note sets black cherry from the Zweigelt against strawberry and clove from the Pinot Noir. Later tasters track its evolution: a Japanese blog in January 2021 found clear raspberry and strawberry, acidity leading, tannin barely present; another in September 2024 recorded medium aromatic intensity, fresh acidity, smooth tannin, spicy fruit, a long finish and a saline note; a Delectable reviewer in 2025 noted sour plum, licorice, mint and an umami finish, with the bouquet fading after about two hours.

When to open

Soga asked for no opening before December 2017; in his current note he reports that ten-year-old Yoichi Nobori Passetoutgrain has evolved into a splendid wine. Our suggestion: 15 °C, no decanting, finish the bottle within two hours.

At the table

Our suggestion: Soga's stated ideal is a wine that fits Japanese food; try it with grilled autumn mackerel, mushroom rice or duck.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: Domaine Takahiko (takahiko.co.jp); Takahiko Soga 2015 release note as reproduced by Souta Shoten; Isego; winy.tokyo; Kurotan wine blog; Ethnicsake blog; Delectable