Domaine Takahiko Yoichi Nobori N Passetoutgrain 2023 750ml

Every grape from the domaine's own 6.7-hectare Nana-Tsu-Mori vineyard was declassified in 2023, so this Passetoutgrain is the whole estate crop released under a lesser name.

The N in the name stands for Nana-Tsu-Mori, the vineyard Domaine Takahiko owns on a well-drained hill at 60 metres in the Nobori district of Yoichi, volcanic clay with weathered gravel and sand over andesite bedrock. The site was once an orchard of seven kinds of fruit trees, which gave it its name, and it is farmed organically. In a normal year its Pinot Noir is bottled as Nana-Tsu-Mori; Zweigelt has occupied 7% of the vineyard since 2021. For 2023 Takahiko Soga declassified the entire crop and released it as Yoichi-Nobori N, a Passetoutgrain of 97% Pinot Noir and 3% Zweigelt. Because the fruit is estate-grown, the label still reads Domaine Takahiko Soga rather than the plain Takahiko Soga of the purchased-grape Yoichi-Nobori line.

Soga's release note explains why. Yoichi recorded a heat summation of 1,590 in 2023, the highest on record and above the Burgundy average. Rain was scarce from budbreak to veraison and sunshine generous, so the vines grew well, but acidity fell early and bird damage was severe, and picking was brought forward. The heat reached into the cellar too: the balance of wild microbes shifted and the wild-yeast fermentation the domaine depends on became difficult. From 2024 Soga began installing air-conditioning and building an underground barrel cellar in response.

The wine was made as a Nana-Tsu-Mori would be: a 48-day cuvaison, 100% whole clusters fermented with wild yeast in synthetic-resin tanks, then 12 months in barrel, 85% used and 15% new. Unlike recent vintages a small addition of sulphite was made. 12,000 bottles were filled at 11.5% alcohol.

In the glass

Soga describes the 2023 as carrying more ume and prune than usual, with cumin and cinnamon spice and black fruit beneath, and an aromatic volume he calls very high for the vineyard. The colour is firm, violet and other flowers sit inside the fruit, and fallen leaves and matsutake follow. He notes an acidity unlike any past Nana-Tsu-Mori, pointed rather than soft, and a long finish carried by umami.

When to open

Soga asks that the bottle rest for several years, since the sharp acidity needs longer ageing than usual to round out and sulphite was added this year; his ideal is to open it around 2030.

At the table

Our suggestion: grilled duck with mushrooms, pork and ume, or dashi-based dishes with matsutake.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: Domaine Takahiko (takahiko.co.jp wine list and label); Joukei (Japanese wine database); Spread Wine (Japanese retailer)