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This was my second visit with a winery that I’d classify as Nagano’s best at the moment. Domaine Sogga, also known as Obus\u00e9 Winery, is based in Obus\u00e9 and is run by Akihiko Soga (just the one \u2018g\u2019 in his name, but two in the domaine\u2019s).<\/p>\n
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Akihiko is fastidious, talented and experienced. The winery is an old Japanese sake brewery that was founded in 1842. His father become interested in making cider: this area is famous for its apples. But it was his grandfather who had leanings towards wine. In the 1970s he planted vineyards with table grapes, and then later on, in 1996, he planted some Merlot in Takayima village.<\/p>\n Akihiko wanted to make wine, and graduated in enology and viticulture from the University of Yamanashi. He then went abroad and did a stage at Long Depaquit before returning to Japan in 1988. Since 2006 he\u2019s been working with organics, and now four of his eight hectares are farmed organically.<\/p>\n We began by looking at some barrels.<\/p>\n Barrel tasting of 2018s<\/p>\n Tasting bottled wines<\/strong><\/p>\n Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Albari\u00f1o 2018<\/strong> Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Cinq Cepages 2018<\/strong> Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Cabernet Frank Murasaki Numero Trois 2016<\/strong> Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Merlot No 4 2016<\/strong> Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Merlot and Tannat No 5 2016<\/strong> Obus\u00e9 Winery Domaine Sogga Petit Manseng Moelleux 2017<\/strong> Domaine Cacteaux is farmed and made by Obus\u00e9 but it’s not from the domaine, so it\u2019s called Sogga Pere et Fils to note that it’s a negociant operation.<\/p>\n Sogga P\u00e8re et Fils Sauvignon Blanc 2018<\/strong> Sogga P\u00e8re et Fils Chardonnay\u00a0Reserve Privee 2017<\/strong> Sogga P\u00e8re et Fils Cabernet Sauvignon 2016<\/strong> Find these wines with wine-searcher.com<\/a><\/p>\n Nagano Wine Region (2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n Nagano Wine Region (2018)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This was my second visit with a winery that I’d classify as Nagano’s best at the moment. Domaine Sogga, also known as Obus\u00e9 Winery, is based in Obus\u00e9 and is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[405,438],"class_list":["post-23558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan","tag-japan","tag-nagano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23568,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558\/revisions\/23568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/obuseinertys-500x375.jpg\")
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\nThis is whole berry fermentation, with soft pigeage. Supple, fresh and expressive with elegant berry fruits and some red cherry notes. Very fine. 91-93\/100<\/li>\n
\nThis parcel has very good drainaged and small berries. Vibrant raspberry and berry fruits nose with good structure and intensity. Direct and vivid. 91-93\/100<\/li>\n
\nUngrafted vines. Very fresh and leafy with nice blackcurrant fruit and firm structure. Nice open berry fruits here with good focus. 90-92\/100<\/li>\n
\nGrippy, dense and vivid with nice raspberry and blackberry fruit. Lovely presence and weight with good structure. From young vines. 90-92\/100<\/li>\n
\nGreen and fleshy at the same time with lovely red and black fruits. Has nice generosity and also some greenness, as well as firm tannins. 90-92\/100<\/li>\n
\nPicked at 25 Brix, pH 3.1, 15% alcohol. This is very stylish with concentrated pear and peach fruit and nice texture. Good acidity. 90-92\/100<\/li>\n
\nHarvested at 27 Brix, ferment stopped early. Sweet pear and apple fruit. Off dry, with nice acidity and a hint of green. 90-92\/100<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/obusesoga-500x375.jpg\")
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\nPicked at 21 Briz, pH 3.2. Lovely aromatics here with some apricot and citrus fruit. Very fine. The palate is dry and fresh with nice bright, focused fruit. Shows high acidity. Very characterful with pretty tangerine and apricot fruit and lemony freshness. 92\/100<\/p>\n
\nThis is a co-ferment of Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat and others. It’s supple, light and fresh with nice fruity notes\u00a0 with textured peach and pear fruit, a bit of grapiness and some green tea. Very nice combination of flavours here. 90\/100<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/soggacabfranc-500x375.jpg\")
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\nRounded, elegant sweet red berries and cherry with a hint of strawberry. Supple and bright with a bit of grip. Fine-textured with some generosity but also good structure. Ripe and expressive. 93\/100<\/p>\n
\nThis is concentrated, fresh and structured with nice purity and elegance. Rounded red cherry and berry fruits with real purity. Very finely structured, this is quite beautiful. There’s power but it is hidden. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\nDense with sweet black fruits. A little bit of lift, and firm tannic structure. Supple with some fine green notes and a bright finish. A touch balsamic on the finish. Lots of interest here. 91\/100<\/p>\n
\nAmazing analysis here: it was 25 Brix at 12% potential alchol. Lively and powerful\u00a0 with high acid and notes of lemons, baked apple and tinned pear. Such a striking wine with high acidity balancing out the sweetness. 92\/100<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/soggapere-500x375.jpg\")
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\nLively and bright with keen citrus fruit and a bit of pith. Has freshness with good acidity. Stony and mineral in a savoury style. 89\/100<\/p>\n
\nNutty, spicy nose with some fine toasty detail. Very fine. The palate is refuned with stylish oak (100% new) that integrates well. Good acidity here. Lemony and precise. 94\/100<\/p>\n
\nFresh leafy nose. Elegant, light, supple palate with juicy cherry and plum fruit. Fresh with nice balance and purity. This is a lovely lighter-style red. 90\/100<\/p>\n\n
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