Taste Testing Aomori Prefecture's Fattoria Da Sasino's Japanese Wines: Hirosaki Nebbiolo, Malvasia, Chardonnay, Barbera & Scorpione

In Italy, there resides a philosophy known as campanilismo, which encapsulates a sense of pride one has to his or her hometown, and is often expanded to see people heavily focusing on local materials and produce, with also typically a sort of can-do attitude of making quality out of what is naturally available in the locality that binds the sensibility as a whole.

And so it is with this spirit of campanilismo that Hirosaki native Michiaki Sasamori 笹森通彰 works his Aomori Prefecture based Italian restaurant Osteria Enoteca da Sasino, which has proven itself highly regarded not just provincially but across the country for its highly committed farm to table approach! At his restaurant, Sasamori, or Sasino as he was nicknamed during his time in Italy, makes use of vegetables, cured meats of prosciutto and salami, cheese and even wine that he grows, harvests and produces himself. It is therefore through a desire to produce his own wines befitting of his Italian styled restaurant that Sasamori would inadvertently prove himself a pioneer in bringing Italian varieties such as Nebbiolo, Barbera and Malvasia to Japan. Nevertheless, broadly speaking, even in a country known for its outstanding culinary craftsmanship, Sasamori's dedication and culinary philosophy still remains rare given the dedication, effort and wide array of skills required to produce much of what one's own restaurant requires, much less to do so at a formidable level. Yet, for a man who once "drifted through life aimlessly", enjoying simple activities like fishing at a nearby river and playing video games with his friends, and who would go on to study computer programming only so he could have more fun, this was entirely unexpected to say the least, with everything changing when Sasamori had picked up a part-time job at a local Italian restaurant whilst attending vocational school. 

Sasamori's vineyard overlooking Mount Iwaki.

Born in 1973 in Hirosaki City in the northern Aomori Prefecture, best known nationally for its apples, Sasamori had grown up in a family of civil servants who believed in allowing him the freedom to do what he liked. Yet, somewhere down the line, Sasamori had grown an affinity for Italy, having loved Italian cars and soccer, which eventually led to Sasamori working a part-time job at a local Italian restaurant. Sasamori admitted that he never particularly grew up wanting to be a chef. It wasn't until he was tasked to cook up the restaurant's staff meals that he began to find his love for cooking when his colleagues had given him praise for his mushroom cream spaghetti. "Next to my family home in Hirosaki was my grandmother's field, and I always ate fresh vegetables grown there. When I started working at a restaurant, I realized how delicious the vegetables from my family's field were, something I hadn't consciously thought about until then. On the other hand, the vegetables I used at my part-time job were purchased from a greengrocer, but they weren't tasty, and I thought, "If I cook with these, it's not going to amount to anything. Even at the high-end restaurants in Tokyo where I worked afterward, I didn't find the vegetables delicious at all. I started to think that if I were to become independent, I would do it in Hirosaki, where my family's field is located," reflected Sasamori.

With this newfound direction, Sasamori would devise a plan to gain all the skills he needed by first mastering the basics in Sendai, before finding his way into top restaurants in Japan and finally make his pilgrimage to Italy to learn at restaurants there, and finally return home to Hirosaki to establish his own restaurant focusing on his own produce. In Tokyo, Sasamori would particularly target establishments with Italian chefs who he believed could teach him more about the cuisine, and would work across restaurants including Riva degli Etruschi (Minami-Aoyama) and Piola (Shirokane), whilst at the same time picking up the Italian language. Once he was ready, he would then take on several apprenticeships in Italy, from the remote two Michelin starred Dolada up in the remote Plois mountains of Veneto to similarly two Michelin starred fine dining Arnolfo in Tuscany, before heading to the Chianti region to be closer to the wine producing heart of Italy and then finally to Sicily. It was thus in Italy that he would experience fully the practice of drawing upon local produce and the craftsmanship of producing himself the very ingredients used in the restaurant's menu. “The restaurant was located deep in the mountains, so remote that it was quite a struggle to get there, but because it had two stars, I imagined it would be like the restaurants in Tokyo, gathering the best ingredients from all over Italy and serving dishes prepared with the finest techniques. However, when I got there, it was very local; they had a field where they grew the vegetables they used in the restaurant, the cheese was homemade. It turned out to be a restaurant that was doing more of what I wanted to do than I had imagined," says Sasamori. He would finally experience in real life the campanilismo that he had up till then only felt in his heart, the word itself coming from the sound of bells in the local belltower that rings throughout the city in the morning, evoking in the town's people a deep sense of pride.

Right on schedule, Sasamori would return to Japan when he had hit 30 years of age confident of his abilities to achieve his vision, and would thus establish his own Italian restaurant Osteria Enoteca da Sasino in 2003. Sasamori would progressively move his ingredients that he would purchase first from Italy to later within Japan and then closer to Aomori, in tandem to his own ability to increasingly produce his ingredients to a high degree, along the way picking up major national prizes for cheese making, amongst many other culinary awards. He would gradually master the ability to make his own hams and mozzarella, as well as grow his own zucchini, basil, almonds and figs. It wasn't long before media outlets picked up on his work and the restaurant would see national coverage, with Sasamori's culinary philosophy receiving much acclaim. Yet, for Sasamori there was perhaps one last item that he had yet to make on his own, and would prove to be his most tedious but also his most fulfilling yet - that was, his own wines.

By 2006, Sasamori was ready to start learning winemaking from scratch and entirely on his own. "When I first started the restaurant, I thought making wine was impossible," says Sasamori. Whilst winemaking itself was surely to be a challenge, Sasamori was confident that if he could work hard to pick up cooking without formal education, so could he do the same when it came to winemaking. Yet, even early on, Sasamori had already sensed what his first obstacle was likely to be - local regulations that required a production capacity of over 6,000 liters of alcohol produced per year in order to keep a license. Sasamori needed to convince local authorities that allowing his to produce his own wines was a positive and viable venture, and thus would hit the ground running by growing an experimental test vineyard in a rice paddy right next to his house for a start. At the same time, Sasamori had learnt of a fairly new program by the government known as the Doburoku Special Zone, which aimed to economically reinvigorate rural regions by allowing producers there to brew ancestral unfiltered Sake without restrictions. With this in mind, Sasamori would approach the local government office himself to request for the possibility of creating Japan's first "House Wine Special Zone" that would expand the concept of the Doburoku Special Zone to also encompass rural winemaking. Working with the local authorities, Sasamori would eventually settle on a "compromise" that would see the chef also produce ciders with the famous local Aomori apples alongside his wines, the goal of which was to help simultaneously promote the prefecture's largest produce and ensure that it would not be displaced by wine grapes. By 2010, Sasamori would be the first ever recipient nationally of the new special house wine license, and would also go on to win numerous awards for his ciders.

Up till that point, Sasamori had already begun testing the viability of numerous grape varieties, including international ones such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, alongside Italian varieties such as Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Barbera, Malvasia and Trebbiano. As no one else had up till then attempted to grow wine grapes in Hirosaki, Sasamori had little choice but to plant an array of varieties to find out what could work, all whilst simply relying on whatever he could learn from books, with no one else in the vicinity that he could look for for advice. For a winery, he would renovate his once family home to allow for a workshop and an ageing cellar, with stockpots used as fermentation tanks and a small manual press that he had put together himself. Everything was to be handmade, with corking and labelling done one by one. By 2012, Osteria Enoteca da Sasino would have its first wines, bottled under the label Fattoria da Sasino (ファットリア・ダ・サスィーノ), with "Fattoria" taken to mean farm. Sasamori was now closer than ever to his vision of embodying campanilismo.

Yet the road ahead was anything but easy, Sasamori would through trial and error find out that not many grape varieties worked well in Aomori's cold and snowy climate (Sasamori had been fond of Sangiovese, however it could not thrive in the Hirosaki climate), with disease and pest pressure a perennial threat, not to mention the regular occurrence of typhoons. In several painful seasons, Sasamori would even lose his entire year's harvest. Yet, the resilient chef-turned-winegrower would press on, solving one problem at a time as he gained more experience with each passing vintage. He would take on a short winemaking course at the Yamanashi University and gain the help of his professor, before a chance encounter with Suntory's growers would put him in touch with more seasoned farmers that could offer him valuable advice. Sasamori would eventually glean all that he could from his tiny test plot, and would subsequently purchase a 1.2 hectare vineyard that overlooked the local Mount Iwaki. This time, Sasamori had a better sense of what was required and would pick a plot with better drainage, with then a sharpened focus on Nebbiolo, Barbera, Merlot, Chardonnay and Malvasia varieties, with the former his flagship whilst he had also had a particular interest in producing sparkling Spumante wines with the Chardonnays.

As a pioneer, much of Sasamori's effort lies in his mapping out of the Aomori terroir and climate, which will ultimately serve as a long lasting blueprint for hopefully generations to come. "When I make wine, I'm always thinking about the world. Unlike food, wine can travel all over the world. Food is fleeting, but wine lasts. The vineyard can be passed on to the next generation. There is great potential for Hirosaki to become a major wine-producing region. If we can promote Hirosaki to the world as a wine-producing region, we can also attract tourists from both within Japan and overseas through wine tourism. That's why we want to increase the number of people involved in winemaking not just for three years, but beyond. And ideally, we'd like them to continue in Hirosaki as fellow winemakers," says Sasamori. In Aomori, which lies to the northern part of Japan, vineyards are able to find their place at lower altitudes given the prefecture's already cooler climate with average temperatures sitting at a comfortable 10.7 °C, with summers warm yet without hitting extremes. Whilst rainfall and humidity remains moderate, it is snowfall that is a bigger consideration given that the prefecture is known particularly for having the heaviest snowfall in the world. This unique humid continental climate poses its own challenges that defy conventional winemaking wisdom, and yet its volcanic and clay, loam soils are incredibly fertile, which makes winemaking here potentially very conducive if the likes of Sasamori can help pave the way.

And so, little by little, vintage after vintage, Sasamori would continue to refine his methods, both in farming and winemaking, all whilst continuing to run his highly regarded restaurant with much of his dishes made with ingredients that he had himself farmed and produced. With more confidence gained along the way, Sasamori would expand his vineyard to 3.4 hectares (this time along a slope with good drainage!), which has also allowed him to expand production, which whilst still relatively small, has allowed more attention to be garnered for the prefecture's winemaking potential which Sasamori hopes to help nurture as well. That said, much of the work at Sasamori's Fattoria da Sasino remains incredibly hands on even as its expanded in the decade plus since the project started, with pruning done whilst the vineyards are still covered in snow and harvest and sorting completely manual. Once in the cellar, the fruits are separately pressed and fermented in stainless steel tanks with yeasts imported from Italy, after which the whites are bottled whilst the reds are left to age for 6 months in barrel with another 6 months in bottle before being released. In recent years, Sasamori has also released a very popular Nebbiolo rose, a Chardonnay-based Spumante made metodo classico (which is identical to the French methode traditionelle that is used for Champagnes), as well as several blends of varying Merlot and Nebbiolo, having previously also experimented with Syrah, Sangiovese and Barbera red blends and Malvasia, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc white blends. Whilst much of Sasamori's process remains fairly traditional in style, he is clear that it is a constant work in progress in search of greater consistency and elegance with the wines of Fattoria da Sasino. Noticeably, Sasamori's wine labels carry a visually striking red scorpion which is an ode to his favourite car, the Italian-made Lancia Scorpion from Fiat and Stellantis' performance subsidiary Abarth, with several special cuvees also featuring vintage prints that Sasamori says comes from illustrations he found in an old Italian cookbook, which he then adapted to include a drawing of Aomori's Mount Iwaki.

Having now operated his famed restaurant for over two decades, Sasamori has also reflected a sense of having fulfilled his vision for introducing a campanilismo styled restaurant that has put his hometown of Hirosaki on the map. With now young children of his own, Sasamori has begun to look ahead with a desire to bring his restaurant closer to his home so that he is able to spend more time with his family, with then also a greater focus on winemaking which he believes can have a more profound impact on his community. As such, Sasamori has expanded on his winery to include a shop, with also the hopes of acquiring more vineyards. He has even discussed the possibility of a collaboration with Japanese drinks giant Suntory to make Hirosaki a "holy land of sparkling wine".

"Right now, my life revolves heavily around farming. When farming becomes the main focus, I think it would be nice to either open "Da Sasino" only on weekends, or convert my house next to the farm into a small diner. I've been running a proper restaurant for 10 years now, and I feel like I've pretty much achieved that, but I'm also getting a little tired of it, so I think I'm done with that. The birth of my child is probably a big factor. I feel a stronger desire to feed them nutritious food. My vision for the diner is to pour a glass of Spumante for the customers when they arrive, and then decide on the dishes while they look out at the fields. It would be nice to pick arugula and tomatoes from the fields to make a salad or pasta sauce. I like the idea of coming to the field to decide what to serve after receiving an order. The dishes I make have become much simpler over the past 10 years. Rather than elaborate dishes, I'm drawn to things like Caprese salad or, for the main course, charcoal-grilled horse meat T-bone steak. It's not that I want to be casual, but rather that I've developed a strong desire to bring out the raw power of the ingredients. I think I'll be pursuing that direction for the next 10 years. 

In the future, we want to increase our Nebbiolo production and improve its quality, and hopefully create a region where Hirosaki is known as a Nebbiolo producing area. You never know until you try. I've always approached things that way, not just with wine. Plus, I get bored easily, so once I achieve something, I want to do something else!"

With that said, let's get to tasting some of Fattoria da Sasino's Hirosaki wines!

Let's go!

PS. Fattoria da Sasino's very unique wines are available in very small quantities over at Wine To Style Singapore so if you do see it, definitely worth catching one!

Wine Review: Fattoria da Sasino Hirosaki Malvasia

100% Estate Malvasia from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.

Harvested later than the Nebbiolos, the Malvasia is destemmed and crushed with some light skin contact. Fermentation goes on for about half a month with full malolactic fermentation. 

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: Incredibly perfumed, it pours out of the glass with loads of peaches, peach gummies and peach blossoms. It's creamy with also a waxy quality to it, garnished with jasmines and elderflowers. It's tinted with a slight almond nougat nuttiness.

Taste: Medium-bodied, creamy here with a tautness. It opens with a slew of peaches, vine peaches, baked peaches, bruised peaches, peach blossoms. It's 50 shades of peaches, really. That said, it's more gentle here on the aromatics, yet brings a gradient of juiciness, tartness and savoury umaminess. Touch of green traits, of lime leaves and green bellpeppers. Bright, firm acidity, with a minerality of wet stone and gravel. 

Finish: More on peach gummies, peach gum, peach blossoms - the aromatics are back on! Yet this time there's a more prominent waxiness here, of agarwood and resin. Still creamy and taut through the clean, fresh and savoury finish.

My Thoughts

A really beautiful expression of Malvasia, bursting at the seams with all manners of peaches! Yet, this isn't some one hit wonder, there is complexity and nuance. It's outlined by. this waxy resinous quality, often garnished with floral blossoms, and also a well defined minerality. The acidity is bright and firm, with the textures creamy yet taut. Of note is how the slew of peach forms seems to bring about quite the multifaceted array of notes, ranging from juicy and saccharine, to leafy and tart, and then to savoury and umami. An impressively well executed Malvasia that's as stellar as it is rare. This is a really solid pick for a dessert pairing, or perhaps a caprese salad.

Wine Review: Fattoria da Sasino Hirosaki Chardonnay

100% Estate Chardonnay from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.

Destemmed and crushed, with about half a month of fermentation and full malolactic fermentation. It's aged for 6 months in 50% new French oak before bottling.

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Straw

Aroma: White florals galore, waxy and oriental, it's heaped on with jasmines, lavender, and resinous agarwood, backed up by creamy tones of peaches and quince over just a bit of vanilla, and outlined by a zesty touch of tangerine.

Taste: Medium bodied, rich, plush, creamy and candied. It first opens with this raw and rustic swath of creme fraiche that's got this farmhouse quality, that's then accompanied by very gentle fruit tones of pears and quince, topped up with bouquets of jasmines and lavender. The acidity is gentle, with a shapely creamy body that shows a line of wet stone minerality.

Finish: A more balanced act of pears and creme fraiche now, still creamy and rich, guided by that stony minerality, here alittle more woody and resinous of lacquered agarwood. Touch of quince into the clean, fresh finish.

My Thoughts

A really pure expression that's more subtle and elegant, very enjoyable and yet at the same time doesn't demand attention. It's incredibly floral, with this really beautiful waxy quality, very much manicured and understatedly complex, showing great composition. The body is rich and supple, very textural, and more delightfully carrying this almost farmhouse rusticity of creme fraiche that was so evocative and beguiling. It felt like you were right there on a farm. The fruits are softer here, with the florals and cream leading the way, guided forward by that stony minerality. It all comes together on the finish where there's a nice show of balance, with the fruits now amped up, along with more of those exotic oriental traits. This works beautifully with cream dishes or delicate, buttery fishes. 

Wine Review: Fattoria da Sasino Hirosaki Nebbiolo

100% Estate Nebbiolo from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.

Destemmed and crushed, with about half a month of fermentation and full malolactic fermentation. It's aged for 9-10 months in French oak before bottling.

This is the 2024 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Garnet

Aroma: Opens perfumed with delicate yet defined florals of rose petals, violets and lavender, counterweighted by a spiced chewiness of licorice and sarsaparilla that's accompanied by tones of blackcurrants and blackberries. An undercurrent of gravel and wet stone minerality cusps the fruited core.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, creamy and structured, really polished, chiselled and compact with a good density. It's bounded by blackcurrants, black cherries, blackberries, blueberries and a touch of tart cranberries. The acidity is perky but slick, with then a waft of herbal and leafy eucalyptus, as well as a more mineral backbone of stony gravel.

Finish: More cherries and red currants here, firm and tart, with still touches of eucalyptus and a stony quality, backed up by a some blackberry preserves. Clean, dry finish.

My Thoughts

A baby Nebbiolo in the best possible way - this is the sort of Nebbiolo that converts those who've sworn off the varietal for its abrasiveness. It swaps out harsh tannins and cutting acidity for a polished, structured frame, and acidity that is perky but slick, stacked up like a layer cake of florals, spices, dark fruits over a mineral undercurrent. It's perfumed with elegance, carries a good compactness and density of the body, with a refreshing and lively finish. Most importantly, it's incredibly accessible and already ready to drink. No more 10 year wait! This is a perfect accompaniment for tomato based pastas.

Wine Review: Fattoria da Sasino Hirosaki Barbera

100% Estate Barbera from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.

Destemmed and crushed, with about half a month of fermentation and full malolactic fermentation. It's aged for 6 months in French oak before bottling.

This is the 2017 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Dark Brickish

Aroma: Super perfumed with patchouli spices, woods and florals, of rose petals, lavender, violets, licorice sticks, black licorice, pine, and sarsaparilla. Wow! Intense and beautiful aromatics, with then a bit of creaminess and a fruited core of blackcurrant gummies, black cherries and blackberries that are compacted with the patchouli. It's almost alittle chewy and woodsy, with also a depth of pine forest floors.

Taste: Medium-bodied, it starts off with a tart kick of cherries, before widening to reveal a more creamy and supple body filled in with blackcurrants, red currants and woodsy licorice sticks, with more chewy black licorice towards the back. The acidity remains polished and precise, with the tannins alittle grainy. Almost reminiscent of sour cherry candy with a side of blackcurrant pastilles. 

Finish: More on red currants, blackberries and mulberry, with still that persistent tartness that's rounded out by the richness and suppleness of the body, backed up by mulberry leaves and chewy black licorice. Clean, almost powdery finish, with lingering herbal and floral tones of sarsaparilla, dusty rose petals and sour cherries.

My Thoughts

This was so ridiculously charming, with a sort of old world mystique, filled with dusty florals, herbal tones and exotic woods. And at the same time, it also feels nostalgic with that sour cherry pucker, albeit here rounded out with more of that woodsy quality of licorice and mulberries that give it an almost textural chew, rendered over a creamy and rounded body. It has on the one end a precise and bright, almost piercing acidity, and on the other, a haunting, earthy depth. Incredibly perfumed aromas and fragrances make this alluring the moment it hits the glass, with the powdery tannins evocative long after the finish. Such a masterpiece that was the showstopper of the flight! This would be perfect with a cut of seared beef or lamb, topped with mushroom or blackpepper sauce.

Wine Review: Fattoria da Sasino Scorpione

62% Nebbiolo, 38% Merlot Estate Grown in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture.

Vinified separately. Destemmed and crushed, with about half a month of fermentation and full malolactic fermentation. It's aged for 6 months in French oak before blending and bottling.

This is the 2021 vintage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Ruby

Aroma: Chewy juicy blackcurrant gummies with a side of dark cherries, and a herbal waft of eucalyptus. Delicate and soft violet florals too, it's aromatic with a textural chomp. Mineral spring water pads the juicier fruited core.

Taste: Medium bodied, dark fruited with tart acidity, filled in with blackberries, blackcurrants and dark cherries, topped with rose petals, mulberry leaves and eucalyptus for some chew, with black tea and black licorice at the back to provide a gentle but firm grippiness. 

Finish: More grainy here, with the tannins tightening to more of a dryness. Licorice, dark cherries and violets, it's darker toned and sensual, with a light pucker into the clean and dry finish.

My Thoughts

A pretty solid blend! The Merlot almost seems to provide a contrast that even more defines the Nebbiolo, showcasing a duotone of richness and lushness with then also the black tea and perky, tart cherries, with that consistent licorice woodsy quality and textural chew. It's topped with beautifully delicate yet fragrant florals of rose petals and violets, with then a herbal touch of eucalyptus that adds to its complexity and sensuality. It's refined yet approachable and accessible, with a refreshingly clean and dry finish. This would go well with aged beef or even a tomato based risotto.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot