Domaine de Montille Hokkaido

The Producer

Domaine de Montille Hokkaido is the Japanese arm of Domaine de Montille, the Volnay-based Burgundy estate that has been producing wine in Côte de Beaune for more than nine generations. The Hokkaido project was established in 2017 when Étienne de Montille — head of the Burgundy estate since the early 2000s — purchased land at Yokomine, in the hills above Hakodate at Hokkaido’s southern tip.

The motivation was strategic. Burgundy has been warming for two decades; vintages that once required restraint to ripen now arrive sometimes too ripe. De Montille has been frank about his concern that the Burgundy he grew up with is not the Burgundy of 2050. Hakodate, at 41–42°N latitude, with cool maritime climate and volcanic soils, was chosen as the closest Asian terroir that delivers what Burgundy was forty years ago.

The Estate

The Yokomine vineyard sits on south-facing slopes at 200–400 meters elevation. Initial plantings (2018) emphasized Pinot Noir and Chardonnay — the classical Burgundy duo — with Burgundian-style spacing and farming. Vinification follows the Domaine de Montille house style: whole-bunch fermentation for portions of the Pinot, indigenous yeast, restrained extraction, traditional Burgundian oak.

The first commercial vintage shipped in 2021 (the inaugural Pinot Noir, made from young vines). The estate plans to grow steadily through the 2020s as the vines mature.

Why It Matters

This is the project that confirmed to international wine that Japanese cool-climate wine has a future at world quality levels. Burgundy money does not buy land in Asia for projects without long-term confidence. The de Montille investment has accelerated international press attention on Hokkaido (and on Hakodate specifically), validated the Yoichi-Sorachi-Hakodate production geography, and arguably prompted the increase in young Japanese winemakers willing to commit decades to the region.

It is also a useful counterweight to the natural-wine-only narrative around Hokkaido — proof that classical Burgundian-quality Pinot Noir is also part of the prefecture’s future.

Details

• Established: 2017
• Location: Yokomine, Hakodate, Hokkaido
• Founder: Étienne de Montille (Domaine de Montille, Volnay, Burgundy)
• Plantings: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
• First commercial vintage: 2021
• Style: Burgundian classical — whole-bunch, indigenous yeast, traditional oak