Irenka Pinot Noir 2024 750ml

In 2024 the September nights in Sorachi turned cold again, the birds stayed in the forest, and Irenka picked far more Pinot Noir than it had expected.

Irenka means an ideal, or a hope, in Ainu. It is also the single vineyard Kuniyo Nagai's company started planting in 2012: 1.3 hectares of fallow land in Kamihoro, Kurisawa, in the rolling hills of Iwamizawa at 43 degrees north. Today about 4,000 Pinot Noir vines, mostly eight Dijon clones aged 11 to 14 years, grow across 0.8 planted hectares on a gentle south-facing slope. The soil is largely clay and slightly acidic, kept under grass. Farming follows lutte raisonnée: no chemical fertiliser and no herbicide.

Spring arrived early, but heavy, wet snow melted slowly and pruning only started in the second week of April. From budbreak to fruit set in early July, temperature, rain and sunshine were more trouble-free than Irenka had ever known. July and August were hot day after day, yet unlike 2023, September nights cooled as they should in Hokkaido, so acidity held and sugar kept rising. The wild birds the team had feared never came; the woods had a good year for acorns and nuts. Picking ran over 13 days, from 13 to 25 October, in three passes, for 6.26 tonnes.

About 1,100 kg from the third pass went into a rosé, Irenka's first since a tiny 2016 lot; roughly 5,100 kg became this wine, made as every year at 10R Winery. The fruit was fully destemmed, this time by machine as well as by hand, cold-soaked for two to three weeks, then fermented with wild yeast at 13 to 26°C with light punch-downs or pump-overs. It then spent about ten months in old French oak, stainless barrels and tanks, with natural malolactic, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. 4,221 bottles were made.

In the glass

Irenka's own note describes a fairly light, bright ruby with a faint haze; rose, violet, strawberry, wild strawberry, raspberry, plum and black tea from the first pour; gentle acidity, generous red fruit with a stewed-fruit sweetness, round tannin, a salty, savoury depth that arrives late, a little bitterness and a very smooth texture, light in body and delicate overall. The retailer Sake no Moritaya, which limited buyers to one bottle each, writes of raspberry, rose and herbs, and tannin dissolved into the wine.

When to open

The producer finds it fairly open on release, but asks that it be brought to room temperature and uncorked at least half a day ahead, and expects more depth after several years in bottle.

At the table

Our suggestion: roast duck, chicken with mushrooms, or grilled salmon.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: Irenka (irenka.co.jp, 2024 technical sheet, vineyard page and release notice of 2026-03-23); JOUKEI (joukei.jp winery profile); Sake no Moritaya (retailer listing)