Community Tasting Notes 1

• forceberry wrote: 89 points

  January 20, 2022 - Fermented in stainless steel tanks in cool temperatures. Aged on the lees in stainless steel. 12% alcohol.
  
  Luminous pale yellow color. Characterful and perhaps a bit odd nose with aromas of almond-driven nuttiness and melon-driven fruit notes, some very Sake-like grainy notes, a little bit of leesy creaminess, light buttery notes and perhaps a slightest hint of oxidation. It feels as though the wine has seen a bit of oak, even though the specs say it doesn't. The wine is lively, broad and leesy on the palate with a medium body and very pronounced acidity. There are characterful and slightly evolved flavors of Sake-like grainy character and melon-like fruit, some hay, light woolly notes, a little bit of stony minerality, an oxidative hint of nuttiness and a touch of pithy grapefruit bitterness. The racy acidity lends great intensity and sense of structure to the wine. The finish is long, lively and crunchy with complex flavors of hay and woolly lanolin, some grainy notes of Sake, a little bit of lemony citrus fruit and tart Granny Smith apple, light nutty notes of almond, a hint of stony minerality and perhaps an autolytic touch of brioche.
  
  This was a bit weird effort for a Koshu. In our 14-wine Koshu tasting, this stood apart from the other wines with its distinctively Sake-like nose - several people commented how the wine not only smelled like, but also, to a smaller extent, tasted like a dry Ginjo Sake - and also felt a bit more evolved than what one would expect from a Koshu only 3½ years old. The overall feel had a savory, subtly oxidative overall character that reminded us of a wine aged in oak, but Chateau Jun has another Koshu that is aged in oak, and - to our understanding - this entry-level Koshu doesn't see any wood. All in all, this is a bit difficult wine to assess: I loved the brisk acidity and distinctive fruity-grainy Sake-like character here, but at the same time the wine felt a bit more tired and oxidative than what I'd like a wine only a few years old to be. Fun and interesting stuff, but with an odd twist, really.

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Wine Definition

• Vintage 2018
• Type White
• Producer Chateau Jun
• Varietal Koshu
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Japan
• Region Chūbu
• SubRegion Yamanashi
• Appellation n/a

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