Niritsu Souwa

Niritsu Souwa — Japanese for 'harmony of two principles' — is the 2024-vintage Autumn-label (秋) release in Inishie no Sato Winery's standard Four Seasons series, following 2020's Soutaisei and Hommage and 2023's Enkan as this season's flagship. The 2024 growing season brought a damaging late frost to Shiojiri's high-elevation Kitaono district (roughly 850m), sharply cutting yields across nearly every variety at the estate, including the winery's Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Rather than blending before fermentation as usual, winemaker Masahiro Inagaki fermented the two reduced lots separately and assembled them afterward — a departure he adopted after an earlier experiment pairing Pinot Noir with Muscat Bailey A left the Muscat Bailey A character too dominant; Cabernet Franc's floral lift and soft tannin, he found, sit more harmoniously alongside Pinot Noir's own aromatics. The Cabernet Franc portion was hand-destemmed and fermented with cultured yeast, while the Pinot Noir included 20% sun-dried whole clusters — though incomplete drying left a touch of green, herbal character in the final blend. Both lots aged roughly 14 months in old oak barrels after fermentation. The finished wine, blending 86% estate-grown Pinot Noir with 14% Cabernet Franc from the Kitaono vineyard, is a dry, medium-bodied red with raspberry and red-berry fruit, gentle tannins, and a faint herbal edge. Only 564 bottles were produced.