Currently Available from Sato
Configuration: (6 x 750mL)
Winery: Sato
Appellation: Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand
Philosophy/Practices: Organic, biodynamic
Grape Variety: 100% riesling
ABV: 12.6%
White oolong tea, dried chamomile, cold apricot & peach, crabapple, freshly fallen autumn leaves. Bone dry with fine, firm tannins and an extra-long finish.
Why we love it: Yoshiaki & Kyoko Sato craft one of the most beautiful iterations of Riesling that I came across during my time living in New Zealand. Here in Canada, we’re almost completely cut off from the gorgeous white wines made in this region, which is world-famous for (and so, dominated by) its Pinot Noir. Rightfully so, but we think that the white wines made here deserve to have their own moment. Riesling in particular shines in Central Otago, where the climate is perfectly suited to the variety. The L’atypique Riesling is even more special because of its elongated maceration on the skins… this is gorgeous, poised orange wine.
The 2022 Sato Riesling is made with grapes from two vineyards: Domaine Road Vineyard, which is in organic conversion in Bannockburn; and Red Shed Vineyard in Bendigo.
Configuration:(6 x 750mL)
Winery: Sato
Appellation: Pisa Terrace, Mount Pisa, Central Otago, South Island
Philosophy/Practices: Organic, biodynamic
Grape Variety: 100% pinot gris
ABV: 13.3%
Frozen cherry, spiced red currant, spring blossoms and forest floor on fine, velvety tannins and a long, vibrant finish.
Why we love it: Yoshiaki & Kyoko Sato craft this stunning amber (skin-contact/orange) Pinot Gris in the famed Central Otago appellation of New Zealand.
What we tend to forget up here in Canada is that Central Otago, at the bottom of the world, gets about 18 hours of sunshine in a day during their summers. This duration of sunlight really amplifies the flavours that the grapes here create… it’s why NZ wines are so distinctive. So imagine the symphony of flavours that are coaxed out of the pristine, holistically-farmed Pinot Gris grapes that make this wine. Combine that with Yoshiaki and Kyoko’s meticulous attention to detail and pursuit of absolutely perfect balance, alongside a month of extended maceration, and you have pure magic.
This is one of the wines that really changed my perception of what is possible with this grape. It’s fashioned with a nod to Yoshiaki’s mentor in Alsace, Jean-Pierre Frick – but with a distinctly Kiwi thumbprint. And it really reminds us that Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir aren’t that far off from one another… like a light, chillable version that’s still just as serious as a red.
Configuration: (6 x 750mL)
Winery: Sato
Appellation: Pisa Terrace, Mount Pisa, Central Otago, South Island
Philosophy/Practices: Biodynamic
Grape Variety: 100% chardonnay
ABV: 14%
95 Points: “Aromas of mandarin orange, quince and apple peel followed by almond and cheese rind with underlying savory dried tea leaves. Ginger. Medium-bodied, crisp acidity. Piquant and zesty, and beautifully harmonized. Impressive purity and reshness.” – James Suckling
Why we love it: Yoshiaki & Kyoko Sato craft this stunning Chardonnay from their own vineyard, La Ferme de Sato, planted 2016 in the famed Central Otago appellation of New Zealand.
La Ferme de Sato sits at quite an elevation above the western edge of Lake Dunstan, at the foothills of the Pisa Mountains that surround Central Otago. Its east-facing aspect means that it receives the gentlest – morning – sun: a critical piece of winegrowing in this region, which sees up to 18 hours of (very warm) sunshine at the peak of summer. The site was just natural grassland with rocky outcrops before the Satos began preparing it for planting. Together, Yoshiaki & Kyoko hand-harvest the grapes with a small crew, use wholly spontaneous, natural fermentation and age the wine in neutral French oak. The resulting wine is unfined, unfiltered and a stunning, silky, nuanced iteration of Central Otago Chardonnay.
Chant du vent means “song of the wind” – a fitting name for the strong gales that are a part of the sweeping landscape of Mount Pisa.
Configuration: (6 x 750mL)
Winery: Sato
Appellation: Pisa Terrace, Mount Pisa, Central Otago, South Island
Philosophy/Practices: Biodynamic
Grape Variety: 100% pinot noir
ABV: 14%
Why we love it: Yoshiaki & Kyoko Sato craft this stunning Pinot Noir from their own vineyard, La Ferme de Sato, planted 2016 in the famed Central Otago appellation of New Zealand.
La Ferme de Sato sits at quite an elevation above the western edge of Lake Dunstan, at the foothills of the Pisa Mountains that surround Central Otago. Its east-facing aspect means that it receives the gentlest – morning – sun: a critical piece of winegrowing in this region, which sees up to 18 hours of (very warm) sunshine at the peak of summer. The site was just natural grassland with rocky outcrops before the Satos began preparing it for planting. Together, Yoshiaki & Kyoko hand-harvest the grapes with a small crew, include partial whole-cluster (proportions vary by vintage) through the wholly spontaneous, natural fermentation, and use pigeage (footstomping) to crush the grapes. The resulting wine is unfined, unfiltered and a stunning, silky, nuanced iteration of Central Otago Pinot Noir.
Sur Les Nuages means “on the clouds” – a fitting name for the stunning landscape that surrounds this vineyard, which sits above the clouds on the edge of Mount Pisa.
About Sato
The words that come to mind when we think of Yoshiaki & Kyoko Sato’s wines are luminous, alive and transcendent (which we don’t use lightly, but if the shoe fits…). While traveling in New Zealand in 2017, these were some of the most spellbinding wines we came across, exceptional in their stature, depth, flavours and modest upbringing: Yoshi and Kyoko are true garagistes and meticulous biodynamic farmers.
The couple met as bankers in the late 1990s, and together moved from Tokyo & London to New Zealand in 2006 with the aim of producing their own wines. They both graduated from the Viticulture & Oenology diploma program at Lincoln University in Christchurch – and from there their careers took off.
After graduating, Yoshi and Kyoko began working in the vineyard & cellar at Felton Road (Bannockburn, Central Otago) with Blair Walter. From there, Yoshi worked as the winemaker of Mount Edward (Gibbston, Central Otago) for four years. He left in 2012 to concentrate on Sato Wines, which he and Kyoko began together as a small project in 2009. For years to follow, Kyoko continued to work at Felton Road – in addition to making the Sato wines with Yoshi – and has now joined her husband at their eponymous project full-time.
Throughout their first years, they both also managed to travel the world, working with and learning from some of the most iconic organic and biodynamic winemakers around the globe. This list includes Tom Lubbe and Sam Harrop MW (Domaine Matassa, Roussillon), Jean-Yves Bizot (Vosne-Romanée), Pierre Frick (Alsace), Phillip Pacalet (Beaune), and Christian Binner (Alsace), to name a few.
This global experience in organic & biodynamic viticulture & minimal intervention winemaking has reinforced the philosophies that the Satos live by:
“We believe grapes have to be transformed to wine with minimum intervention by human hand, chemicals or additives. In this way, we consider, natural microbiological balance is maintained in the vineyard and the wine is process in the winery so that the real character of the terroir where the grapes grow is truly expressed… This is the philosophical core of Sato Wines and we apply this traditional, natural winemaking method to the healthy and lively grapes grown in the beautiful, cool climate of Central Otago.”
Sato: In the Vineyards
Sato wines are made with grapes from three vineyards – the third to come online beginning with the 2019 harvest – each farmed Organically or Biodynamically, in the northeast regions of Central Otago, New Zealand.
Northburn Vineyard (biodynamic)
The Satos began using Northburn Vineyard for their Pinot Noir in 2014. This beautiful, gentle northwest-facing site was certified Organic by BioGro in 2012, and has been farmed biodynamically since 2009. In the winter of 2014, Cloudy Bay took contract of this vineyard, giving Yoshi a 1-hectare parcel of the property to manage for his own production. The corporation still has the rest of the vineyard today, which has dropped its Organic certification, but Yoshi still farms his single hectare staunchly biodynamically. It’s mineral-rich and produces Pinot Noirs of incredible complexity.
Avalon Vineyard (organic)
Yoshi and Kyoko source Pinot Gris and Riesling from this site in Queensberry, about 25 km toward Wanaka. This is a beautiful, privately-owned vineyard that has been in the process of official organic conversion for the past few years. Yoshi is working closely with the owners of this site to achieve this.
La Ferme de Sato: the Home Vineyard (upper Pisa Terrace – biodynamic)
In 2016, Yoshi and Kyoko planted their home vineyard in the Pisa sub-region, directly above and extending from the Pisa Terrace Vineyard, which they had worked with since the inception of Sato Wines in 2009. Their site sits on a east-northeast facing slope at 295 to 345m above sea level, and the estate has no history of chemical use. Its intricate, complex soil pattern and topological aspects were created by a gully that runs through its center. After years of Yoshi’s observations of the Pisa Terrace Vineyard that sits below this 5-hectare site, he chose to plant at high density (5,050-5,600 vines/ha) Pinot Noir (1.3ha), Chardonnay (0.9ha), Chenin Blanc (0.5ha), Gamay (0.3ha) and Cabernet Franc (0.2ha) – in very specific blocks based on soil and exposure across 3.2ha of total plantings. The first release of these wines, which are under the very limited La Ferme de Sato label, were released in early 2022.
Of course, the Sato Home Vineyard has been farmed biodynamically since the beginning. In 2019 it achieved BioGro Certified Organic status, and came into production that same year. Based on Yoshiaki and Kyoko’s absolute attention to detail, texture and purity in their wines, the grapes from La Ferme de Sato will create easily the most covetable bottles to come from Central Otago in a long time…