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Jintaro Yura might be a new name in Alsace, but he’s already part of the region’s new wave - young winemakers dialling in on site expression and shaking off the dust of underappreciation, especially outside France. Born in Japan to a food-obsessed family - his dad ran three restaurants focused on French cuisine and wine - Jintaro’s path to the vineyard started early. He trained in Burgundy, Waipara, and Yamanashi before landing in Alsace. Quiet intensity, clear vision, and a deep respect for place. One to watch.

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In April we’re diving into something exciting (and trendy) - Asian winemakers making waves in Europe (thanks Marcus⁩⁩). New and old techniques, fresh perspectives, and wines that undoubtedly push boundaries. Read more on the winemakers and what makes their wines stand out below :)

Full lineup:

Yura 'Le Silence et la Résonance' Riesling 2023
Domaine de Bois Lucas R Barrique 2020*
Maison Fang Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Blanc 2020
Cascina Lieto Sensazione 2021
Mee Godard Côte du Puy Morgon 2022
Petit-Roy Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune Rouge 2021
Domaine Chanterêves Les Damodes Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru 2017
Domaine H Mondeuse 2023
Azienda Agricola Sciara Etna Centenario 2022
G.D. Vajra Albe Barolo 2020

*WOTN

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Hiroto and Rie Sasaki run a small, low-key winery in Piedmont. They moved to Italy back in 1997, but only started renting vines in 2018 - just 0.8ha to begin with. Now they’re farming 1.6ha, mostly old-vine Moscato (some of it over 50 years old), plus smaller plots of Freisa, Nebbiolo, Cortese, and Barbera. Production’s still tiny - less than 10,000 bottles a year - and the approach is all minimal intervention, shaped by the mentors they’ve worked with locally.

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Maison FANG is a small operation out of Burgundy, founded by Chinese winemaker Franck Fan (方明). The Chinese name, 方寸酒莊, plays on his surname and loosely translates to “great things from a small space” - a pretty clear window into his mindset. Franck’s approach is all precision. He works with deep respect for Burgundy’s terroir, producing just 5,000 bottles a year, each one shaped by close attention and restraint. He's not trying to reinvent Burgundy, but rather show it through his own lens.

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Mee Godard landed in Beaujolais in 2013 and got straight to work - starting her domaine with three standout parcels in Morgon: Corcelette, Grand Cras, and Côte du Py. From the start, her focus has been sharp: vin de garde from serious terroir. Beaujolais is one of the last places in France where you can still build something from the ground up without a family château or deep-pocketed investors - and Mee’s the real deal. She farms it, prunes it, runs the cellar.

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Seiichi Saito is the mind behind Petit-Roy - a sharp, new-school micro-négoce with real energy behind it. Originally from Japan, with Chinese roots, he landed in Beaune in 2006 to study wine, and by 2008 had fully relocated to Burgundy to go deeper. Before starting Petit-Roy in 2017, he put in time at some serious domaines - Bize (under Patrick), Mugnier, Rousseau, Leflaive. In 2014, he also co-founded La Lune in Beaune - tiny space, big reputation.

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Domaine H is based in Torméry, right on the steep, well-known slopes of Chignin in Savoie, France. In 2023, Korean winemaker Sukhwan Ha took over the reins, stepping into the legacy of Domaine Yves Girard Madoux - a name already tied to some of the best vineyard sites in the area. The estate now spans around 10 hectares of vines, sitting between 350 and 400 metres in altitude. It’s a fresh chapter, but rooted in serious land.

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The year 2020 was a big shift for Tomoko and Guillaume - they picked up a handful of high-potential parcels, mostly in the Hautes Côtes de Beaune, and started farming them organically from day one. They work with phytotherapy techniques recommended by Eric Petiot, a plant scientist out of Lausanne who’s known for pushing alternative vineyard treatments. For Aligoté and Pinot Noir, they use minimal copper for downy mildew and - no joke - skim milk for powdery.

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Fifteen years into her career, Eugene Mengyao Qiao is now making wine at G.D. Vajra - one of Piedmont’s most respected family-run estates. Before that, she made waves in the classrooms. She was the first student - ever, regardless of background or gender - to graduate with full marks in both theory and tasting from the University of Turin’s master’s program in oenology. Academic gold standard, now translating into serious work in the cellar.

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Stef Yim grew up in Pasadena and Santa Monica, with a Hong Kong father, Japanese mother, and a fast-track path into hospitality. He dropped out of college after a year to work full-time in restaurants, starting out as a sommelier in the U.S., then moving into enotecas - where wine went from job to obsession. After a few years of making wine stateside, he moved to Madiran in the southwest of France, then to Sicily, where he now makes some of the island's most incredible wines.

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Junko Arai didn’t stumble into wine. Before making her first vintage in 2002, she was already deep in it - running Cosmojun, a wine import business bringing French bottles into Japan (which she still operates today). That work gave her face time with some of the best vignerons across France and shaped how she thought about wine from the ground up. When friends at Clos Roche Blanche were selling a few hectares, she didn’t hesitate. She bought in, took the leap, and started making wine herself.