2019 Grape Republic Anfora Ariancioni

Grape Republic was founded by restaurateur and sommelier Kazuomi Fujimaki in 2015 who up and moved from Tokyo to the village of Shinden in Yamagata.
With no previous experience in winemaking - he set three simple rules for himself: The cultivation must be organic, the wines must be made without sulfur and other additives, and they should preferably have a touch of amphora storage. The goal was to make live and clear Japanese wines in free style using the grapes grown in Yamagata's orchards throughout the 20th century. Grapes are sourced from Yamagata. The wine is a blend of de-stemmed Delaware fermented on skin for 8 days, whole bunch of Niagara, Rosario Bianco, Gewurtztraminer + Pinot Gris (co-fermentation), and home vineyard Delaware fermented on skin for 14 days. All of fermentations and ageing were then done in amphora. An orange wine with a pleasant astringency, tightly packed fruit, and amphora-derived umami. Even better day two.