Producer
Producers
Winemakers we’ve visited, tasted with, and admire — including many outside our portfolio.
Japan
Tendō Winery (天童ワイン)
A mid-sized Yamagata producer in Tendō City, working with Delaware and emerging vinifera within the GI Yamagata identity
Tendō Winery (天童ワイン) is a mid-sized Yamagata producer based in Tendō City. Operating within the GI Yamagata framework, the estate works extensively with Delaware (the prefecture's heritage variety) alongside emerging vinifera (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot). The winery is one of the prefecture's mid-tier producers, distinct from both the heritage giant Takahata and the smaller boutique operations.
Yamagata
Nanyō Wine (南陽ワイン)
A small Yamagata producer in Nanyō City — heritage variety focus with emerging vinifera plantings
Nanyō Wine (南陽ワイン) is a small-scale Yamagata producer based in Nanyō City in southern Yamagata Prefecture. Operating within the GI Yamagata framework at boutique scale, the estate combines heritage Delaware focus with experimental vinifera plantings.
Yamagata
Anpu Winery (安心院ワイナリー)
Northern Kyushu's leading wine producer — based on the Ajimu plateau in Ōita Prefecture, established 2001 by Sanwa Shurui as a Kyushu wine flagship
Anpu Winery (安心院ワイナリー) is northern Kyushu's leading wine producer, based on the Ajimu plateau in Ōita Prefecture. Established in 2001 by Sanwa Shurui (Japan's largest shōchū producer), Anpu has become Kyushu's wine flagship — combining Ajimu plateau viticulture with significant institutional support and integrated tourism.
Oita
Shimane Winery (島根ワイナリー)
Shimane Prefecture's 1986 municipal-style operation in Izumo — the San'in coast wine identity's anchor, working with Yamabudou and hybrids
Shimane Winery (島根ワイナリー) is the institutional anchor of Shimane Prefecture's wine identity. Founded in 1986, the operation works extensively with Yamabudou (Japan's native wild vine), Bailey-family hybrids, and Concord-family varieties suited to the San'in coast climate. It represents the broader Japanese wine map's western-prefecture quadrant.
Shimane
Kobe Wine (神戸ワイン)
Hyōgo's 1983 municipal winery in Kobe's northern hills — Kansai food-culture-integrated wine production at the gateway between Osaka and the Setouchi region
Kobe Wine (神戸ワイン) is the municipal winery of Kobe City, founded in 1983 in the city's northern hills. Operating within the GI-eligible (but not designated) Hyōgo prefecture context, Kobe Wine integrates with the city's broader food-culture identity. The estate works with both heritage hybrids and a growing range of vinifera.
Hyogo
Daikoku Budōshu (大黒葡萄酒)
An Osaka heritage producer in the Kashiwara table-grape culture — one of the prefecture's smaller producers operating within GI Osaka's 1914-Katashimo-anchored identity
Daikoku Budōshu (大黒葡萄酒) is a small Osaka producer in the Kashiwara table-grape area. Alongside Katashimo Winery (the GI Osaka anchor), Daikoku operates as one of the prefecture's heritage producers, working within the table-grape-derived wine tradition that defines GI Osaka.
Osaka
Kondo Vineyard (近藤ヴィンヤード)
Sorachi small-domain founded by Ryōsuke Kondō — Burgundy-trained natural Pinot Noir at high-elevation Iwamizawa, in the heart of Bruce Gutlove's 10R alumni community
Kondo Vineyard (近藤ヴィンヤード) is a Sorachi small-domain founded by Ryōsuke Kondō (近藤亮介) in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido. Among Bruce Gutlove's 10R alumni, Kondō has built a Burgundy-trained natural Pinot Noir identity at high-elevation Iwamizawa — one of the post-2010 Hokkaido frontier small-domains that represents the cluster's inland continental wing.
Hokkaido
Château Sakaori (シャトー酒折)
A Katsunuma micro-producer specializing in Koshu and i-Vines plot-specific bottlings — small in scale, deep in detail
Château Sakaori (シャトー酒折) is a Katsunuma micro-producer that has built a distinctive identity through plot-specific Koshu bottlings under the i-Vines designation. The estate operates at much smaller scale than the major Yamanashi producers but has earned consistent critical recognition for its terroir-focused approach.
Yamanashi
Domaine Hide (ドメーヌ・ヒデ)
A Katsunuma boutique founded by Hideki Aiba — Burgundy-influenced approach to Yamanashi Koshu and Pinot Noir, very small production
Domaine Hide (ドメーヌ・ヒデ) is a Katsunuma boutique estate founded by Hideki Aiba (相場英樹). After Burgundy training and Yamanashi cellar experience, Aiba opened his own micro-domaine in Katsunuma, focusing on Koshu and Pinot Noir at very small production scale. The estate represents the contemporary Yamanashi small-domain trajectory parallel to what Domaine Takahiko built in Hokkaido.
Yamanashi
Nakai Vineyard (中井ヴィンヤード)
Yoichi small-domain founded by Toshiki Nakai — Burgundy-influenced Pinot Noir and aromatic whites in the heart of the Yoichi Pinot frontier
Nakai Vineyard (中井ヴィンヤード) is a Yoichi small-domain founded by Toshiki Nakai. Among the cluster of post-2010 Yoichi small-domain estates that emerged in the wake of Domaine Takahiko's 2010 founding, Nakai Vineyard works with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and aromatic whites in a Burgundy-influenced register.
Hokkaido
Hokkaido Wine Co. (北海道ワイン)
Otaru-based commercial pioneer — Hokkaido's largest wine company, established 1974, the prefecture's heritage volume producer
Hokkaido Wine Co. (北海道ワイン) is the prefecture's largest commercial wine company, founded in 1974 in Otaru. The company sources from extensive contracted-grower networks across Hokkaido and produces a broad range from heritage hybrids (Niagara, Kerner) to vinifera (Pinot Noir, Riesling). Distinct from the post-2010 small-domain cluster, Hokkaido Wine represents the prefecture's commercial-volume identity.
Hokkaido
Tokachi Wine (十勝ワイン)
Ikeda Town's 1963 municipal pioneer — Japan's first municipal winery, in southeastern Hokkaido's Tokachi plain, working with cold-tolerant hybrids and Kiyomi
Tokachi Wine (十勝ワイン) is Japan's first municipal winery, founded by Ikeda Town in southeastern Hokkaido in 1963. The operation pioneered cold-region viticulture in Japan using hybrids (Kiyomi-cross, Tokachi-cross) and Concord-family varieties. Today it remains the heritage cornerstone of the Tokachi sub-region's wine identity.
Hokkaido
Furano Winery (ふらのワイン)
Hokkaido's 1972 municipal pioneer — Furano City's lavender-and-wine operation, built on cold-tolerant hybrids and tourism integration
Furano Winery (ふらのワイン) is the Furano City municipal winery founded in 1972 in central Hokkaido. Following Tokachi's 1963 municipal-winery template, Furano Winery built a tourism-integrated operation pairing wine production with the area's famous lavender fields. The winery remains the central institution of Furano sub-region wine identity.
Hokkaido
Domaine Yui
Yoichi small-domain experimenting with Tannat and other unusual cool-climate varieties — among the more adventurous Hokkaido small-domain experimenters
Domaine Yui is a Yoichi small-domain that has positioned itself as one of the more adventurous experimenters within the Hokkaido small-domain cluster. Alongside the cluster-typical Pinot Noir and aromatic whites, Domaine Yui has explored Tannat, Blaufränkisch, and other unusual cool-climate varieties — testing the limits of what Yoichi terroir can support.
Hokkaido
Nita Farm (ニタファーム)
Yoichi small-domain operating at the smallest scale in the cluster — natural-wine ethos, family-scale production
Nita Farm (ニタファーム) is a Yoichi small-domain operating at very small family-scale production. Among the Yoichi cluster, Nita Farm represents the smallest-scale, most-personal end of the small-domain spectrum — closer to a micro-estate than to a commercial winery, with natural-wine ethos and a deliberately limited distribution footprint.
Hokkaido
Pas du Tout
Yoichi small-domain with a deliberately oblique name — French for "not at all" — that signals the estate's unconventional positioning within the cluster
Pas du Tout is a Yoichi small-domain whose name (French for "not at all") signals the estate's deliberately unconventional positioning within the Hokkaido small-domain cluster. The estate works with Pinot Noir and aromatic whites at small scale, with a natural-wine ethos and an emphasis on stylistic individuality rather than fitting cluster templates.
Hokkaido
Iizuna Wine (飯綱ワイン)
A small-scale Nagano producer in the Iizuna area north of the city — a more remote element of the GI Nagano broader-area producer set
Iizuna Wine (飯綱ワイン) is a small-scale Nagano producer based in the Iizuna mountain area north of Nagano City. Operating at higher elevation than the Chikumagawa producers and outside the formal sub-region designations, the estate represents the broader GI Nagano producer set beyond the Wine Valley clusters.
Nagano
Chūō Budōshu (中央葡萄酒)
The 1923-founded Misawa-family company that operates as Grace Wine — Yamanashi's premier Koshu specialist
Chūō Budōshu (中央葡萄酒) is the corporate name of the Misawa family wine company founded in 1923 by Chōtarō Misawa in Katsunuma, Yamanashi. Operating commercially as Grace Wine, the company has been the prefecture's premier Koshu specialist for four generations. Now led by Ayana Misawa as winemaker, with father Shigekazu Misawa as principal.
Yamanashi
Domaine Atsushi Suzuki
Yoichi small-domain founded by Atsushi Suzuki — natural-leaning Pinot Noir and aromatic whites within the Yoichi cluster
Domaine Atsushi Suzuki is a Yoichi small-domain founded by Atsushi Suzuki (鈴木敦士). Operating in the natural-leaning register that several Yoichi cluster estates have adopted, the domaine produces Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and other aromatic-white cuvées at very small scale. Part of the post-2010 Yoichi small-domain emergence.
Hokkaido
Arc-en-Vigne / Japan Wine Agriculture Research Institute
2014/2015 Tomi-based winemaking school founded by Toyoo Tamura — the institutional infrastructure behind the Chikumagawa Wine Valley's small-domain expansion
Arc-en-Vigne (アルカンヴィーニュ) is the Japan Wine Agriculture Research Institute, a winemaking school founded by Toyoo Tamura in Tomi, Nagano in 2014/2015. The school provides systematic training in viticulture and oenology to aspiring small-domain winemakers and has been the institutional incubator for the Chikumagawa Wine Valley's post-2010 expansion. Tamura's broader vision of Tomi as a wine-and-life community center includes Arc-en-Vigne as the educational backbone.
Nagano
Château Mercian Mariko Winery
Mercian's 2019 prestige-cuvée site at Tomi, Nagano — the Chikumagawa Wine Valley flagship that anchors Mercian's premium identity
Château Mercian Mariko Winery (シャトー・メルシャン マリコ・ワイナリー), opened in 2019 in Tomi, Nagano, is Mercian's prestige-cuvée production site within the Chikumagawa Wine Valley. The winery's establishment confirmed Mercian's commitment to GI Nagano premium production and gave the company a distinct flagship for its highest-tier wines, separate from the historic Yamanashi Katsunuma operation.
Nagano
Alps Wine
Shiojiri’s heritage cooperative — operating since 1927 in Kikyōgahara, anchor of the area’s historical Concord and Niagara identity
Alps Wine (アルプスワイン), founded 1927 in Shiojiri, Nagano, is one of the Kikyōgahara wine area’s heritage producers. The cooperative-style estate operates extensively with Concord, Niagara, and Muscat Bailey A from contracted growers across the Kikyōgahara plateau, alongside European-variety estate work.
Nagano
Beausejour
Yamanashi’s Yatsugatake-foothills estate — modest but consistent serious Koshu and Bordeaux-variety production
Beausejour (ボー・ペイサージュ-area producer; spelled in romaji or katakana), in the Yatsugatake foothills of northwestern Yamanashi, is a serious small-to-mid Yamanashi estate working with Koshu, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The producer represents the Yamanashi tier between fine-wine specialists and broader cooperatives.
Yamanashi
Funky Château
Saku’s natural-leaning small domain — among the most stylistically distinctive Chikumagawa producers
Funky Château (ファンキーシャトー) is a small natural-leaning estate in Saku, Nagano. Founded in the 2010s as part of the Chikumagawa Wine Valley small-domain wave, the producer’s distinctive name and natural-wine orientation make it one of the most recognizable contemporary Saku-area names.
Nagano
Rue de Vin
Tomi’s small-domain reference — Hideaki Oyama’s reclaimed apple-orchard estate, opened 2010 in the Chikuma Wine Valley
Rue de Vin (リュードヴァン) was founded in 2010 by Hideaki Oyama in Tomi, Nagano. The 3.7-hectare estate sits on a south-facing slope along the Chikuma River, on land Oyama reclaimed from an abandoned apple orchard. Trained in France, Yamanashi, and Azumino, he is one of the Chikumagawa Wine Valley’s most consistent small-domain operators.
Nagano
Hitomi Winery
Shiga’s nigori-wine pioneer — the Higashi-ōmi natural-leaning estate that defined unfiltered Japanese wine
Hitomi Winery, founded in 1991 in Higashi-ōmi, Shiga, was the producer that established nigori-wine (unfiltered, cloudy white) as a recognized Japanese natural-wine category. Sumito Iwatani — former head brewer here, now at Yellow Magic Winery — pioneered Delaware-based natural wine that has since influenced producers across the country.
Shiga
Hokkaido Wine Company
Otaru’s commercial pioneer — the 1974 winery that established Kerner and Niagara as Hokkaido signatures
Hokkaido Wine Company, founded in 1974 in Otaru, is the prefecture’s commercial wine pioneer. Its early plantings of Kerner, Niagara, and other cool-climate varieties established what would become the prefecture’s viticultural identity — well before the small-domain natural-wine scene emerged in the 2010s.
Hokkaido
Suntory Tomi no Oka
Yamanashi’s 1909 vineyard — Suntory’s prestige wine arm, planted with MBA from Kawakami himself
Suntory Tomi no Oka (登美の丘) traces back to a 1909 vineyard founded by railway official Shinsuke Kosayama in northern Yamanashi. Kotobuki-ya (later Suntory) acquired the property in 1936, with founding-era plantings of Muscat Bailey A from Kawakami himself. Today Tomi no Oka is one of Japan’s premier corporate wine estates.
Yamanashi
Domaine Sogga
Takahiko Soga’s elder brother’s Komoro estate — and the family base from which Domaine Takahiko was launched
Domaine Sogga is the Komoro, Nagano estate of the Soga family — the same family that produced Takahiko Soga (Domaine Takahiko, Yoichi). Run by Takahiko’s elder brother, the estate operates in the Chikuma River Wine Valley and represents the family’s longer Nagano roots.
Nagano
Yellow Magic Winery
Sumito Iwatani’s Yamagata estate — natural-wine specialist named for the YMO band, Delaware-focused, no-SO₂ orientation
Yellow Magic Winery is Sumito Iwatani’s independent project in Yamagata Prefecture, founded in 2018 after his decades-long tenure at Hitomi Winery. The estate name nods to Yellow Magic Orchestra, the seminal Japanese band; the wines focus on Yamagata Delaware made with no sulfite addition.
Yamagata
Kurambon Wine
Katsunuma’s biodynamic / regenerative pioneer — fourth-gen Takahiko Nozawa, the producer named for Miyazawa Kenji’s fairy-tale crab
Kurambon Wine traces back to 1913 in Katsunuma, Yamanashi. Under fourth-generation Takahiko Nozawa (Burgundy-trained), the estate adopted biodynamic / regenerative cultivation in 2007, indigenous-yeast fermentation, and minimal-intervention winemaking. The brand name comes from a word spoken by a crab in Miyazawa Kenji’s "Yamanashi" fairy tale.
Yamanashi
Takahata Winery
Tohoku’s largest winery — Yamagata Coca-Cola subsidiary, anchor of the GI Yamagata story
Takahata Winery, founded in 1990 in Yamagata Prefecture, is the largest winery in Tohoku. Originally a Nankyū Coca-Cola Bottling subsidiary, it was instrumental in proving that Yamagata could grow serious vinifera and was the institutional anchor of the prefecture’s 2021 GI designation.
Yamagata
Obuse Winery
Nagano’s natural-wine pioneer — Sōga Akihiko’s organic JAS-certified Burgundian-style estate
Obuse Winery in Obuse, Nagano traces back to a 1942 fruit-wine pivot from a centuries-older sake brewery. Under fourth-generation Sōga Akihiko (Burgundy-trained, 1997–98 Vosne-Romanée and Chablis), the estate has become Japan’s only organic-JAS-certified European-variety vineyard and a defining natural-wine producer.
Nagano
Aruga Branca / Katsunuma Jyōzō
Yuji Aruga’s 1999-onwards Koshu modernization — Katsunuma Jyōzō’s premium label, Vinalies International silver 2003
Katsunuma Jyōzō (勝沼醸造) was founded in 1937 by Yoshizane Aruga in Katsunuma. Third-generation Yuji Aruga took over in 1999 and committed the estate fully to Koshu specialization. The premium Aruga Branca (アルガブランカ) line, launched in 2004, has built a strong international reputation.
Yamanashi
Edel Wein
Iwate’s pioneer winery — 1962 founding, the prefecture’s second pillar after Kuzumaki, balanced Yamabudou + vinifera identity
Edel Wein, founded in 1962 in Hanamaki, Iwate, is the prefecture’s pioneer commercial winery. Where Kuzumaki Wine specializes purely in Yamabudou, Edel Wein works across hybrid varieties and European cultivars — providing a complementary identity for Iwate’s wine industry.
Iwate
Manns Wines
Kikkoman’s wine arm — Japan’s most ambitious mid-century corporate wine project, anchored by the 1973 Komoro winery
Manns Wines was founded in 1962 by the Kikkoman group with the rationale that "real winemaking should be done by a soy-sauce brewery." The Komoro winery (opened 1973) is now the company’s flagship; its Solaris label has been served at Japan-US summit dinners.
Nagano / Yamanashi
Domaine de Montille Hokkaido
Étienne de Montille’s Burgundy-meets-Japan project — the first major French-investor wine estate on Hokkaido
Domaine de Montille Hokkaido, established in 2017 by Étienne de Montille of Volnay’s nine-generation Domaine de Montille, is the first significant Burgundy investment in Japanese wine. The Yokomine vineyard project in Hakodate produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay aimed at long-term cool-climate quality.
Hokkaido / Hakodate
Lumière
Yamanashi’s 1885 estate — among Japan’s oldest continuously operating wineries, with a Meiji-era stone fermentation tank still in use
Lumière Winery in Fuefuki, Yamanashi was founded in 1885 as the Furuya Brewery — placing it among the very oldest commercial wineries in Japan. Its Meiji-era stone fermentation tank, built in 1901, is a designated cultural property and still in occasional use.
Yamanashi
Kido Winery
Shiojiri’s small-domain Merlot benchmark — Akihito Kido’s family operation that helped redefine Kikyōgahara
Kido Winery, founded in 2004 in Shiojiri by Akihito Kido and his family, is the small-domain Merlot reference of Kikyōgahara. After eight years at a regional commercial winery, Kido struck out independently with vertical-trellis vineyards and a methodical no-herbicide farming approach.
Nagano
Domaine Mont
Yoichi’s second wave — Atsuo Yamanaka’s 3-hectare Pinot Gris specialist, trained under Domaine Takahiko
Domaine Mont, founded in 2016 by Atsuo Yamanaka in Yoichi, Hokkaido, is one of the highest-profile second-wave Hokkaido domains. Yamanaka trained under Takahiko Soga at Domaine Takahiko before independence; his estate focuses on Pinot Gris with no-sulfur, whole-bunch fermentation.
Hokkaido / Yoichi
Cave d’Occi
The Niigata Wine Coast pioneer — German-trained Kiichirō Ochi’s 1992 estate that became a destination village
Cave d’Occi, founded in 1992 by Kiichirō Ochi at the foot of Kakuda Mountain in Niigata, is the producer that established the modern Niigata Wine Coast. Inspired by both German and Napa winemaking, Ochi built what is now a winery-hotel-spa-restaurant village on the Sea of Japan coast.
Niigata
Kuzumaki Wine
Iwate’s yamabudou specialist — a 1985 municipal winery that turned a wild mountain grape into a national wine industry
Iwate Kuzumaki Wine, founded in 1985 as a town economic-revitalization project, is Japan’s most committed Yamabudou specialist. The municipally-owned operation buys fruit from local cultivators, sustains the Kuzumaki rural community, and has built a national following for its wild-fruit-driven wines.
Iwate
Katashimo Wine Food
Osaka’s 1914 anchor — four generations on the Kashiwara hillsides, the founder of GI Osaka’s identity
Katashimo Wine Food (カタシモワインフード), founded in 1914 in Kashiwara, is Osaka Prefecture’s anchor winery and the producer most responsible for the prefecture earning GI status in 2021. Four generations of the Takaii family have farmed the same Yamato-River-basin hillsides since the 1880s.
Osaka
VillaDest Garden Farm & Winery
Toyoo Tamura’s Tomi estate — and the catalyst that turned the Chikuma River Valley into Japan’s most active small-domain region
VillaDest Garden Farm & Winery, founded in 2003 by essayist and farmer Toyoo Tamura in Tomi, Nagano, is the cultural anchor of the Chikuma River Wine Valley. Tamura also founded the Japan Wine Agriculture Research Institute (2014) and the Arc-en-Vigne winemaking school (2015) — making him perhaps the single most influential figure in the small-domain Nagano scene.
Nagano
Marufuji / Rubaiyat
Katsunuma’s 1890 estate — and the Yamanashi pioneer of vertical-trellis Koshu
Marufuji Winery in Katsunuma, founded in 1890, is among Japan’s oldest continuously-run wineries. Its Rubaiyat label — named by the Japanese poet Hihara Kōnosuke after Omar Khayyam — has been a Yamanashi standard-bearer for more than a century. The estate is now run by fourth-generation Haruo Ōmura.
Yamanashi
Domaine Takahiko
The Yoichi Pinot Noir benchmark — a 4.6-hectare domain whose wines are poured at Noma Copenhagen
Domaine Takahiko, founded in 2010 by Takahiko Soga in Yoichi, Hokkaido, is the producer most often credited with putting Japanese Pinot Noir on the international map. Its flagship Nanatsumori Pinot Noir is on multi-year waiting lists worldwide and has been served at Noma.
Hokkaido / Yoichi
Château Mercian
Japan’s oldest commercial winery — direct descendant of the 1877 Katsunuma project
Château Mercian traces its lineage to the Dai-Nihon Yamanashi Budōshu Kaisha founded in 1877 — the company established by Masanari Takano and Ryūken Tsuchiya after their return from France. Today, owned by Kirin, it operates three winery sites across Yamanashi and Nagano and remains a structural pillar of Japanese wine.
Yamanashi / Nagano
Iwanohara Vineyard
Niigata’s 1890 estate where Zenbei Kawakami bred the grapes that gave Japan its red wine
Iwanohara Vineyard, founded in 1890 in Jōetsu, Niigata, by Zenbei Kawakami, is the cradle of Japanese wine-grape breeding. Kawakami’s 10,311 cross-breeding experiments produced Muscat Bailey A, Black Queen, and twenty other varieties that still anchor Japanese red-wine identity.
Niigata
Grace Wine
A four-generation Yamanashi family — and the first Japanese winery to win Decanter Gold for Koshu
Grace Wine, founded in 1923 in Katsunuma by Chotarō Misawa, is the international benchmark for serious Koshu. Today led by fourth-generation Shigekazu Misawa with daughter Ayana as head viticulturist and winemaker, the estate has won Gold at Decanter and earned 98 points for its Cuvée Misawa Akeno Koshu 2016.
Yamanashi
10R Winery
Bruce Gutlove’s Iwamizawa custom-crush incubator — the engine room of Hokkaido’s small-domain explosion
10R Winery (トアール) is the custom-crush facility opened by Bruce and Ryōko Gutlove in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido in 2012. Roughly 35 winemakers have launched their own labels through 10R’s incubator program — a list that effectively maps the modern Hokkaido natural-wine scene.
Hokkaido / Sorachi
France
Champagne Ponson
Organic precision in the Petite Montagne — fifth-generation champagne from Coulommes-la-Montagne
Maxime Ponson represents a quieter revolution in Champagne. Fifth-generation in Coulommes-la-Montagne, he farms thirteen hectares of Premier Cru organically and makes champagne of meticulous quality — structured, precise, the kind that makes you pause mid-conversation.
Champagne — Petite Montagne
Champagne Augustin
Biodynamics at the extremes — peppering, aromatherapy, and amphorae in Avenay-Val-d’Or
Marc Augustin farms nine and a half hectares of Premier Cru vineyard in Avenay-Val-d’Or with Demeter-certified biodynamic methods inherited from his father Jean. His practice extends to peppering, aromatherapy, quartz crystal placements, and vinification in Georgian clay amphorae.
Champagne — Avenay-Val-d’Or (Premier Cru)
visited June 2025
Legrand-Latour
Champagne as geology — pure grape juice tirage in the Vallée de la Marne
Thibault Legrand-Latour farms four biodynamic hectares in Fleury-la-Rivière and makes champagne from nothing but grape juice. His wines are named after geological epochs, and beneath his vines lies a paleontological cave system forty-five million years old.
Champagne — Vallée de la Marne
visited June 2025
Romain Henin
Le Gamin du Terroir — zero-sulfite Grand Cru champagne from Ay
Romain Henin makes zero-sulfite, zero-dosage champagne from seven and a half hectares of Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards around Ay. Mentored by Sébastien Mouzon and influenced by a transformative harvest in Greece with Patrick Bouju.
Champagne — Ay Grand Cru
visited June 2025