Jintaro Yura Riesling 2022

30 bottles available – max. 6 per customer

A burgeoning new talent in Alsace, Jintaro Yura is combining Japanese craftsmanship with traditional winemaking techniques to produce wines of purity and finesse.

After working as a sommelier in his native Japan, Jintaro enrolled in oenology school and gained experience working in vineyards across New Zealand and Burgundy before settling with his family in Alsace in 2012.

Inspired by his experience working alongside some of Alsace’s leading vignerons, including Isabelle Meyer, Jean Boxler, and Jean-Paul Zusslin, Jintaro produced his first vintage in 2020 with organic fruit sourced from exemplary growers around Gueberschwihr and Rouffach. From the moment his inaugural wines landed the buzz around his project has been growing.

Gently pressed and fermented with native yeasts, his wines are aged in a variety of different vessels. The resulting cuvées combine pure fruit with complex umami notes from extended lees stirring – a technique rarely seen in Alsace and more common to Burgundy.

Jintaro’s Pinot Blanc offers stone fruit delicately woven with spice, while his Riesling shows a beautiful depth and richness cut by razor-sharp acidity. Made with 70% whole clusters and aged for 11 months in barrel, his elegant Pinot Noir is perfumed with sweet red fruit and smoky minerality.

Following in the footsteps of other gifted Japanese vignerons in France, such as Kenjiro Kagami (Domaine des Miroirs), Osamu Uchida (Domaine Uchida), and Chisa Bize (Domaine Simon Bize et Fils), Jintaro is also on a similar trajectory towards achieving cult status and Shrine to the Vine is delighted to offer an allocation of his tiny production to UK drinkers for the first time.

Oyster shell, citrus peel, orchard fruit – juicy and moreish. Only 200 cases produced.