de Montille Hokkaido Ri Pinot Noir 2021 750ml

The kanji on this label means to understand, and Etienne de Montille's team chose it for 2021 after three vintages of learning Hokkaido from borrowed Yoichi grapes.

Ri is the fourth of five wines de Montille & Hokkaido made before its own Hakodate vines came on stream. From 2018 to 2022 the company bought fruit from Yoichi growers and had it vinified by Bruce Gutlove at 10R Winery, in partnership with Coco Farm. Each year carried a single character: 豪 Oser for 2018, 驚 Surprise for 2019, 學 Etude for 2020, then 理 Comprendre for 2021, chosen, in the producer's words, "because of the many realizations we have had so far". General manager Akira Yano put it to WANDS more plainly: they started, were surprised, studied, thought they understood, found that was not enough, and went searching again, hence 探 Recherche for 2022.

The Pinot Noir came from 15-year-old vines on the Kimura farm in Yoichi. Wine Report describes 2021 as a season of average temperatures and high humidity, where sorting mattered and the harvest began on 6 October, nine days ahead of 2020. In the cellar, 35% of the fruit was destemmed, so most of it fermented as whole bunches, with native yeast only, followed by 16 months in barrels two to four years old. The wine was released in April 2024, offered only within Japan, and by July WANDS reported it had sold out everywhere.

Etienne de Montille, head of the 300-year-old Domaine de Montille in Burgundy, started the project in 2016; the company believes it to be the first vineyard in Japan planted by a foreign producer. Planting on a 40-hectare hillside in Hakodate began in 2019, 13 hectares were under vine by 2024, and the winery was completed in 2023. Nothing was exported until the 2024 vintage, so Ri left Japan only through private hands.

In the glass

The producer's note for its Yoichi Pinot Noir reads pale, bright garnet; raspberry and strawberry with a peony-like floral lift; soft acidity, a touch of white pepper, earthy depth under fine tannin and a mineral finish, with tobacco and mushroom arriving as it ages. Tasting the 2021 in May 2024, WANDS found a pale colour, delicate red fruit, a soft attack, very fresh acidity, white pepper on the finish and a light katsuobushi-like savoury note. Wine Report's headline for the same tasting called this Pinot Noir relaxed.

When to open

The producer says it can be opened soon after release, given a large glass and time, and that secondary aromas come with six to ten years of age. Serve at 18°C.

At the table

The producer suggests red meat; while young, carpaccio or fish, especially fresh tuna; with age, flavourful white meats and braised dishes.

Quick facts

Provenance

Sourced from a local distributor in Japan.

Sources: de Montille & Hokkaido (demontille-hokkaido.com, JA and EN); WANDS (2024-07-23); Wine Report (2024-07-30); Daikanyama Wine Salon Le Luxe (retailer listing); WINE SHOP nico (retailer listing)