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Y By Yoshiki Chardonnay "Encore" California
/ Y by YOSHIKI Chardonnay “Encore” California 2022
*Not in a special box.
Country of Origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: California
Winery: Y by Yoshiki
Year of production: 2022
Color: White
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Stopper: Cork
Capacity: 750 ml
Alcohol content: 13.5%
Product Code : YY-1CH--22E
[Tasting notes]
The signature aromas of this wine are apple tart, Meyer lemon and red pear. You can feel the rich flavors of white peach, white pineapple and hazelnut toffee from barrel aging. A well-balanced and superb Chardonnay from a year that was an exceptional vintage for white wines.
[Production information]
The 2017 vintage Chardonnay released in 2018 was so popular that it sold out soon after its release, and the same vintage Chardonnay was released again the following year in 2019 under the title "Encore." Proving its popularity and high quality, this Chardonnay "Encore" has become Y by YOSHIKI's signature work in both name and reality, and Chardonnays from the 2019 vintage onwards will continue to be called "Encore."
2022 was a near-perfect year for Chardonnay, with unprecedented freshness, balanced acidity, and fruit-forward aromatics. The harvest began calmly, and a record heatwave pushed ripeness to peak, producing some stunning white wines.
The grapes are harvested at night to preserve their freshness. They are then transferred to a press and the juice is stored in stainless steel tanks until it begins to ferment. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks to express the freshness of the grapes, and then aged in French and American oak barrels to give it a smooth and balanced fullness.
Winemaker: Rob Mondavi Jr.
[Winery]
Launched in 2009, "Y by YOSHIKI" is a wine created in collaboration between YOSHIKI and Rob Mondavi Jr., a fourth-generation winemaker from a Napa Valley winemaking family.
Based in California, Yoshiki is familiar with wine and has always admired the Mondavi family. He has been buying and collecting their Napa Valley wines. And the one he chose to collaborate with was the Michael Mondavi family, one of the most respected families in the California wine industry.
In February 2009, YOSHIKI visited Napa Valley and met Michael Mondavi and his son Rob, and had dinner at their home. Afterwards, he went to the Michael Mondavi Family Estate to taste wine with Rob, and made a blend of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The first vintage of the blend, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, was released in Japan in the fall of 2009. This wine was created after tasting YOSHIKI's personal favorite tastes and flavors.
The second release, the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2012 Chardonnay, were made in the fall of 2016 as premium wines made only from grapes grown in Napa Valley, a famous wine region in California. By the end of 2017, the wines had attracted so much attention that they were sold out immediately. The wines were completely gone from the Japanese market.
YOSHIKI then wanted to create a wine that more people could enjoy casually, so after more tastings with Rob, in the summer of 2018 they completed a new series, "Y by YOSHIKI California," which YOSHIKI calls smart casual.
Later, at the end of 2018, the 10th Anniversary Special Edition "Y by YOSHIKI Oakville Napa Valley" series was released, which is made only from grapes from Oakville, one of the most prestigious wine-producing regions in Napa Valley, and which YOSHIKI called his "masterpiece."
In December 2020, we released new vintages of both the "Y by YOSHIKI California" and "Y by YOSHIKI Oakville" series, as well as a new series, "Y by YOSHIKI Russian River Valley."
Until now, YOSHIKI has been familiar with Cabernet Sauvignon and has released a series of Cabernet Sauvignon wines. However, as he has more opportunities to enjoy premium wines from around the world, he is attracted to the wines of Burgundy, France, a great wine-producing region that fascinates wine fans around the world, and he began to consult with Rob about whether he could make Pinot Noir wine, a specialty of Burgundy, in California. And finally, the "Y by YOSHIKI Russian River Valley" series was completed.
Starting in 2020, new vintages will be released each year as part of three series: "Y by YOSHIKI California," "Y by YOSHIKI Russian River Valley," and "Y by YOSHIKI Oakville."
However, due to the impact of the massive wildfires that occurred in California in 2020, some years of releases had to be canceled. However, Rob understood YOSHIKI's desire to somehow deliver wine to consumers who look forward to the series of wines every year, and so he created a wine that would be released twice from the same vintage, naming the wine "Encore."
Starting in 2024, a new "Rosé" wine will be added to the "Y by YOSHIKI California" series, which YOSHIKI calls smart casual. In recent years, rosé wine has become very popular worldwide. In France, consumption has tripled in the past 23 years, and it is said that one in four bottles of wine consumed is rosé wine. Rosé wine is also becoming more popular in the United States, and YOSHIKI has also begun to enjoy fresh and refreshing rosé wine, so it was a very natural progression for Rob to make rosé with YOSHIKI.
[Rob Mondavi Jr.]
President of Winemaking and Co-Founder, The Michael Mondavi Family Estate
Rob Mondavi Jr., a fourth-generation Napa Valley winemaker, began his passion for wine more than 30 years ago. The son of Isabel and Michael Mondavi, Rob grew up in Napa Valley, and as a child, the vineyards and wine cellars of Robert Mondavi Winery were his playground. As he grew up, Rob gained a wealth of experience working in the winery's fields, cellars and hospitality. An entrepreneur from a young age, he started a business that organized mountain bike tours in Napa Valley while he was a student, and after graduating from college, he worked in sales for Southern Wine & Spirit, a major distributor of fine wines.
After taking a break from the wine industry, Rob started a company in Napa in 1995 to import and sell premium cigars from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the Canary Islands. After leaving the cigar business, Rob joined Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2000. He spent a year as sales manager for luxury brands, and in 2001 was promoted to sales director, responsible for sales in over 20 states. After two years in sales, he returned to Napa Valley to work as marketing director, developing and implementing the winery's marketing programs. During this time, he studied vineyard work, blending and tasting intensively under Winemaker Geneviève Janssen and the winemaking and vineyard teams.
In 1999, Rob, his father Michael, his mother Isabel, and his sister Deena bought a small piece of barren land surrounded by manzanita trees on the hill of Atlas Peak, and would later establish The Michael Mondavi Family Estate (MMFE). Rob became President of Winemaking at MMFE in 2004, returning to the passion he first had as a child for growing grapes and making wine, and creating a number of premium wines. Rob became Director of Winemaking in 2012, and his wines express a balanced new generation sensibility, and he also focuses on natural farming, while using the latest winemaking techniques in the cellar to produce wines.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Winegrowers of Napa County and is a past board member of the Napa Valley Vintners. He enjoys duck hunting and fly fishing and resides in Napa Valley with his wife, Lydia, and their two sons.
[Comment from Rob Mondavi Jr.]
"I think Yoshiki is someone who has broken the conventional wisdom of the Japanese music world. Yoshiki is a person who has an overwhelming presence on stage and is soft-spoken and extremely graceful and kind. He is a classically trained pianist and a drummer in a rock band, and he can change like a chameleon, possessing grace, eloquence and a sense of adventure depending on the situation.
YOSHIKI has always had a unique way of looking at things. He respects tradition, but also has an inherent desire to push boundaries and push boundaries, and always stays exciting and fresh. This is exactly the same approach I take when making wine.
