Kikuka Chardonnay Barrel Aged 2022, 13%, 750 ml
Ref : NISKUMA2
€73.00
Tax Included
The Kumamoto Wine Farm and Kikuka Winery is one of Japan's finest producers of Chardonnay wine. Kumamoto Wine Farm works in partnership with around 30 winegrowers (9 hectares in total) to produce wine, specifically 90% Chardonnay.
Grapes are 100% produced in the town of Kikuka. Vineyards are located in a basin area that provides an ideal environment for growing grapes: well ventilated, with over 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and good drainage thanks to the soil surface, which contains a lot of mountain sand.
Plots are located at altitudes of 100 to 200 meters. Although terrain is mainly flat, there are also terraced areas created by rivers, and the region has some of the lowest water temperatures in Kumamoto Prefecture, which affects temperature differences and creates the terroir. 2019 was a difficult year with a lot of rain during the harvest, but from 2020 onwards, weather has been favorable, particularly in 2022, when there was little rain in mid-August during the harvest and very good grapes were harvested.
For this new vintage, winery used 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in Kikuka-cho, in the town of Yamaga, located 30 km north of Kumamoto City. Harvest period extends from late August to early September, and grapes are harvested according to their ripeness. After fermentation at 15-20°C, grapes are selected by sensory testing in each tank and transferred to French oak barrels.
Grapes are concentrated thanks to the favorable sunshine and cold climate, resulting in a Chardonnay with rich fruitiness, well balanced by acidity, and a delicate barrel aroma. This is a dry white wine with a creamy taste. It is recommended with pork, pasta with cream sauce, etc. Recommended serving temperature is 14-16 degrees Celsius, not too cold, and it should be enjoyed in a large glass.
You will enjoy the complex aroma with notes of ripe apples and a slight roasted aroma as temperature rises. You will find top notes of fresh apple and yellow peach, apricot, orange, white flowers, with hints of vanilla and toasted almonds from the barrels used to age the wine. First flavors evoke tropical fruits, followed by elegant oak nuances. This wine has beautiful acidity and a delicate blend of umami flavors with roundness.
It has a round, full-bodied and rich impression with a long finish. Finish is elegant, long and persistent, with a perfect balance between fruit and oak. This Chardonnay is recommended with yakitori skewers (grilled chicken with salt), pasta with a creamy sauce, sole meunière, turbot, or brill.
NISKUMA2
Data sheet
- Weight
- 0.75 kg net
- Ingredients
- grapes, sulfites
- Storage
- 12 to 15 ° C
- Volume of pure alcohol
- 13%
- Appearance
- bright lemon yellow
- Idéal tasting temperature
- 14 ° C.-16 ° C
- Category
- dry WHITE wine
- Type
- dry
- Recommandation
- EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH. DRINK WITH MODERATION. CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY, EVEN IN SMALL QUANTITY, CAN HAVE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE CHILD’S HEALTH. THE SALE OF ALCOHOL IS FORBIDDEN TO MINORS UNDER AGE 18
- Winery
- Kumamoto Winery
- Location
- 168-17 Mitsuzuka, Izumi-Cho, Kita-Ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto
- Quantity produced
- not specified
- Bottle color
- Dark
- Grape variety
- Chardonnay
- Grape origin
- Kikuka, Kumamoto
- Yeast type
- Cultured yeast
- Fermentation type
- Low-temperature fermentation
- Fermentation process
- Stainless steel vats
- Filtration method
- Filtered
- Aging method
- Aged in French oak barrels (7-year-old barrels) for 12 months
- Vineyard
- Partners
- Altitude
- 150-200 m
- Latitude
- 32 °
- Annual sunshine (hours)
- 1884 hours
- Climate
- Cold maritime
- Average annual temperature
- 14.9 ℃
- Average annual precipitation
- 2177 mm
- Soil type
- Brown plain soil, Andosol
- Average age of vines
- 25 years
- Trellising system
- Vertical positioning of shoots
- Harvesting method
- Manual
- Harvest year
- 2022
- Product
- White wine
DOMAINE
Kumamoto Wine Farm owns two wineries in Kumamoto Prefecture. One is Kumamoto Winery, founded in 1999, and the other is Kikuka Winery, founded in 2018. Kumamoto Wine Farm is partnered with about 30 grape farmers (total 9ha) to make wine. The vineyards are located in a basin area with a good environment for grape-growing: well-ventilated, with over 2,000 hours of sunlight / year and a good drainage due to the ground surface which contains a lot of mountain sand.
The soil is a well-balanced mixture with fields characterized by brown lowland soil (fine drainage) and black soil derived from volcanic ash (water-retentive). Although the location is a high rainfall area, they have rain-cut facilities (automatic openable greenhouse) to protect grapes from diseases and have underdrains to maintain a good drainage environment. The grapes are harvested by hand from late August to mid-September, and the integrant from the compounds of the grapes are controlled by using a mechanical temperature control device . At the Kikuka Winery’s owned vineyard (1.5ha), they cultivate Chardonnay, and other grapes such as Gewurztraminer / Viognier / Cabernet Franc / Merlot / Gamay /Pinot Noir, which had not been cultivated widely in the Kyushu area.
While their partner farmers cultivate their grapes using the VSP system, they adopted the pergola system for their own vineyard. Kikuka Winery’s stainless steel fermentation tanks and pressing machines are a compact size because they make wine in small batches for each type of grape.
HISTORY
“Kumamoto winery”, the first winery in Kumamoto, was founded in 1999. While inspecting various areas in Kumamoto, they discovered bright red salvia flowers blooming in Kikuka.
Salvia is a type of flower that grows in the tropics to subtropics with large temperature differences between day and night. After seeing salvia blooming, they were assured that the Kikuka area had a great possibility of becoming a fine vineyard. In the Kikuka area, wine grapes were not cultivated, so they contacted 3 farmers to start cultivating Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. In the fourth year, they finally became able to harvest Chardonnay, and they released “Kikuka Night Harvest Chardonnay 2003”.
They succeeded to harvest grapes at night when the temperatures are lower (it was the first attempt in Japan at that time). “Kikuka Winery” was newly established in Kikuka in 2018 since it took an hour to move grapes from the farms to the Kumamoto Winery. That was also when they finally succeeded in developing their own vineyard. In 2022, they won the highest category award at a domestic wine competition and started to show glimpses of its terroir. Currently, they are partnered with 31 farmers and are always striving to improve their manufacturing technique and the quality of their wine, as well as also trying to cultivate other types of grapes in their own vineyard.
Awards Chardonnay du Monde
2020 – Kikuka Chardonnay Barrel Aged
2017 Silver 2022 – Kikuka Chardonnay Silver
2023 - Kikuka Chardonnay Barrel Aged
2020 Gold - Kikuka Chardonnay Silver Sakura Awards
2021 – Delaware Silver 2022 - Niagara Gold - Campbell Early Silver Japan Wine Competition
2022 – Kikuka Chardonnay Barrel Aged 2019 Category Gold
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The Kumamoto Wine Farm and Kikuka Winery is one of Japan's finest producers of Chardonnay wine. Kumamoto Wine Farm works in partnership with around 30 winegrowers (9 hectares in total) to produce wine, specifically 90% Chardonnay.
Grapes are 100% produced in the town of Kikuka. Vineyards are located in a basin area that provides an ideal environment for growing grapes: well ventilated, with over 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and good drainage thanks to the soil surface, which contains a lot of mountain sand.
Plots are located at altitudes of 100 to 200 meters. Although terrain is mainly flat, there are also terraced areas created by rivers, and the region has some of the lowest water temperatures in Kumamoto Prefecture, which affects temperature differences and creates the terroir. 2019 was a difficult year with a lot of rain during the harvest, but from 2020 onwards, weather has been favorable, particularly in 2022, when there was little rain in mid-August during the harvest and very good grapes were harvested.
For this new vintage, winery used 100% Chardonnay grapes grown in Kikuka-cho, in the town of Yamaga, located 30 km north of Kumamoto City. Harvest period extends from late August to early September, and grapes are harvested according to their ripeness. After fermentation at 15-20°C, grapes are selected by sensory testing in each tank and transferred to French oak barrels.
Grapes are concentrated thanks to the favorable sunshine and cold climate, resulting in a Chardonnay with rich fruitiness, well balanced by acidity, and a delicate barrel aroma. This is a dry white wine with a creamy taste. It is recommended with pork, pasta with cream sauce, etc. Recommended serving temperature is 14-16 degrees Celsius, not too cold, and it should be enjoyed in a large glass.
Kikuka Chardonnay Barrel Aged 2022, 13%, 750 ml
€73.00
Tax Included
ALCOHOL ABUSE IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH. CONSUME IN MODERATION. CONSUMING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY, EVEN IN SMALL QUANTITIES, CAN HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE HEALTH OF THE CHILD.
FAQ