Travel to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, and I imagine one of the last things you’d expect to find is a Frenchman making wine. But tucked away in Hakodate, Etienne de Montille, a ninth-generation winemaker from the 300-year-old Domaine de Montille in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, is challenging preconceptions about Japanese wine. The de Montille family has been synonymous with Burgundy for centuries, but Etienne decided in 2016 to try something different, setting up vineyards in both Hokkaido and Santa Barbara, California. 

‘I was touched by what I saw,’ Etienne told the Japan Times last year. ‘[Unlike in France] where we have the proper winemaking infrastructure, there isn’t a formal school for winemaking in Japan… But the wine producers remain committed to making the best possible wines in very challenging environments. I asked a few of them, “How can I help you?”. They said it would be great if someone from Burgundy or Bordeaux could come over and share knowledge.’ 

While the de Montille project may seem like a very modern arrangement, it is actually a continuation of a tradition in Japanese winemaking. Château Mercian, Japan’s oldest vineyard, sent two vintners over to France so they could learn how to make wine........

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