Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/07/16/sato-wines-from-new-zealand-japanese-bankers-turned-serious-winemakers/
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While I loved all the wines, one stood out for me and we’ll get to it. First, I have to confess that when I eventually got to pricing, I was rather shocked. Of course, that is not something that will surprise winelovers. Pricing has become a huge issue. However, on this occasion, my shock was at how low these prices are.
I have a bad feeling that in a few years, we’ll look back on these prices and wish we had bought even more, because I can’t believe that when the world discovers these wines, there will be anything other than immense interest. So get in now and keep your fingers crossed.
These are bargains today, although actual prices depend on your location and their availability. The notes are for the La Ferme de Sato wines only.
Le Chant due Vent Chardonnay 2021 – If one of the Pinots had not so enthralled me, this would undoubtedly be the wine I would be raving about even more than I have. The name apparently means ‘song of the wind’. My first two words, when scribbling notes, were refined and elegant. This wine is all that and more. There is the merest hint of oak, but it is so well integrated.
Good intensity, but with a wonderful delicacy and lightness. Great focus and a lingering finish. Exquisite and surely with 10 to 15 years ahead. 97.
Schisteux Chenin Blanc 2021 – Named after the very schisty soil on which the vines live (if schisty is not a word, it is now). Good intensity here, this is, if nothing else, a varietally correct Chenin. Nectarine, pears, hessian and apples.
This is an appealing textural style with excellent length and a fine line of bright salinity. Impressive balance and complexity. This could have up to twenty years ahead of it. 93.
Alyssum Gamay 2021 – A revelation. If there is a better New World Gamay, let me know. 40% whole bunch in the 2021, this fragrant, perfumed and enthralling with bright energy. Cherries, spices, a briary note and a flick of raspberries. Focus, generosity and length. 95.
Sous Bois Cabernet Franc 2021 – The first vintage was 2019. There is a leafy note here, along with herbs and blackcurrants, with a note of cassis. Fresh acidity, seriously good length and deceptive grip. Ten years. 93.
Les Violettes Pinot Noir 2021 – 100% whole bunches here, giving the wine quite a stemmy and spicy note. Two and a half weeks of carbonic maceration. Herbs, pepper, root vegetables and smoky earth notes. Lovers of the whole bunch style will love it. For me, a touch much though it is a thoroughly good Pinot. A well-structured style. Fifteen years.
This is the first vintage of this wine. A second tasting a few weeks later saw more of an undergrowth note with black jellybean notes, and an ever-so-slightly elevated score. 93/94.
Sur les Nuages Pinot Noir 2021 – Just stunning. In two weeks up and down New Zealand visiting their very best wineries, this was one of the wines that has stayed with me (and I’ll confess to putting some away in the cellar, although I am having great difficulty in keeping my hands off it). As close to wine of the trip as it could be.
‘Sur les Nuages’ means ‘above the clouds’ and this wine is certainly heavenly. Taut, precise, focused, and ever so balanced. Cherry pit notes, cassis, bergamot and floral notes. The balance really is knife-edge, the wine fresh and energetic, the flavors dance on the palate and the length is amazing. An exercise in restrained exuberance. Like drinking silk and lace.
As someone said, if this came out of a bottle labeled Musigny, it would have surprised no one. Ten to twenty years. 98.
For more information, please visit www.satowines.com/ (website under construction, contact details only)
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Credits: Article and images by Ken Gargett @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/07/16/sato-wines-from-new-zealand-japanese-bankers-turned-serious-winemakers/