Newbie Intro - Shiba Wichern Cellars

Hello, Berserkers!

My wife, Akiko Shiba, and I operate a tiny little winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley creatively called Shiba Wichern Cellars. We produce almost 1000 cases of wine per year – mostly Pinot noir, but a little bit of Auxerrois too – since 2017. (Edit: Auxerrois since 2017. Pinot noir since 2013…)

How we got here is a long complex story most of which is best saved for another day. Very briefly: in 1995 we met in a beer bar in Tokyo and eventually moved to Germany where Akiko dropped her plans to study beer making in favor of studying enology and viticulture. After Germany we made our way out to Oregon for Harvest 2009, started our winery in 2013 and here we are. Obviously, there were lots of experiences, adventures and chances to learn along the way. I want to share just one of those with you here.

Akiko is often asked if as a Japanese person it has been difficult to find her way in the wine industry. Let’s face it; when we think about wine in a cultural context, most people think of the (European) old world. France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc. come to mind first when we think about wine culture. Even new world countries like South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand,the US, etc. come to mind long before Japan.

For years Akiko avoided and deflected when asked about this. “It doesn’t matter. I just want to make wine. I don’t want to be the best Japanese woman winemaker. I just want to be the best,” was her answer. When asked again during an interview this summer she opened up a little bit more. Even though I have known her for 26 years(!), her answer brought me some new insight into why she does things the way she does.

In the next couple of paragraphs I am going to repeat her answer – as best as I can – from that interview. I hope it helps to share her philosophy of wine production and serves as an interesting introduction to Shiba Wichern Cellars.

lewman akiko small.jpg
"Actually, Japanese food and drink culture gives me an advantage, I think. In Japan everything is focused on the ingredient. Almost every dish is about some specific ingredients. When we eat that dish, we want to taste how delicious those particular ingredients are. To do that we need two things: quality ingredients and the correct way to prepare the dish.

The importance of quality ingredients needs no explanation – every culture knows this. It is the process of making the dish that is different. Western food has a lot of sauces and other things that compliment, but can sometimes overpower the individual ingredient. Japanese food culture has almost nothing like that. Even complex dishes still let us enjoy all of the individual ingredients.

For restaurant foods like Nigiri Sushi this philosophy is obvious. The proportion of the fish to the rice bed must be perfect. Even though we love the fish part of Sushi, no one wants a big thick slab on top of the rice. The balance would be all wrong. It wouldn’t look right, it wouldn’t have the right mouth feel and it would taste wrong. Even the rice has to be just right. Not packed too tight. Not too soft. Not too hot or cold and just the right amount of vinegar.

For home cooking we Japanese practice this philosophy too. Something as simple as miso-soup has a precise process that needs to be followed strictly. The size and the shape of the vegetables, what kind of dashi, which combinations of ingredients work well, how much miso are all so important. We want to taste every ingredient not just the miso. If we use too much dashi, it is just as bad as using too little. All of this is about balance.

Wine is the same. The ingredient is the grape. I want to capture the taste of the grapes. Highlight it and protect it. Maybe even intensify it too. To do this I know that I need quality grapes and I need to prepare them the perfect way to enjoy them most.

This way of thinking is my culture and part of me. So, I think being a Japanese wine producer is OK.
"

-Akiko Shiba

So that’s Akiko. We are both stoked to be here and looking forward to meeting everyone!

Please take my money!

Just looking at your web pages and … so glad you are participating in BD!

Yet another exciting producer participating. Thanks for participating! Excited for the upcoming offer

Chris,

Just wondering how long the wines are in barrel until they are bottle? Also, are the grapes 100% destemmed?

Thanks

I enjoyed a young bottle of the 2016 Shiba Wichern Lewman last month. It is delicious, artisanal wine made with precision, even better day two. Promptly ordered 3 cases as it is their last year in that vineyard. I am looking forward comparing with Goodfellow Lewman bottling. Also like the Shiba Wichern Nuestro Sueno and Willamette bottling.

How do I purchase wine from your winery?

I can’t find your ordering page.

Matt - remember these are Berserker Day intros so while you can obviously buy in advance if you want (and if they have available wine), they will be presenting an special offer (usually with a discount) on BD.

Hi, Doug. Thanks for the questions.

Barrel aging is generally 14 to 18 months. Barrels are from a diverse range of French coopers, but our favorite is Taransaud. We add one or two new barrels every now and then, but mostly we purchase used barrels (thanks, Ken & Erica!). After bottling the wines are bottle aged for another 12 - 18 months.

Destemming is a year to year call, but there is always some component of whole cluster (non-destemmed) grapes in the fermenters. The percentage of whole-cluster depends on a handful of things, but the first priority is how lignified the stems are. Except for the occasional experiment, we have to date never gone higher than 30% whole cluster.

That Goodfellow comparison sounds like fun. Lewman, to me, is very unique and is very identifiable regardless of who the vintner is. Even when blended with other vineyards for that matter.

Allow me to restate my question.

If I wanted to make a purchase from your website today how do I accomplish that task?

I can’t find your ordering page or shipping information.

Hi, Matt.

If you sign up for our newsletter, your welcome email will include a link to our webstore. If you are worried about SPAM, we only send out about 5 or 6 newsletters yearly.

That said, we will be making some great offers here for BD12. Offers that are not available on the webstore. Also, right now we are not shipping anywhere, because it is too cold and the risk of thermal damage is too high. Kind of a bummer, but in the long run it is for the best.

I will sign up today. I wasn’t sure because your signup is a direct link to Mailchimp.

Thanks.

Cool, welcome to WB Chris and Akiko. You guys are like the Oregon version of Tomoko and Guillaume of Chantereves in Savigny-les-Beaune!

I’m looking forward to trying your white wines especially the Havlin.

i subscribed to the newsletter… look forward to trying…

Haha. Thank you. That is a big compliment and enormous shoes to fill!

As it happens, Akiko & Tomoko studied at Geisenheim together. In fact they were room-mates for a while. I have very fond memories of visiting those two in Savigny-les-Beaune. (I have the memory of one of the worst hangovers in my entire life from one of those visits as well. Totally self-inflicted and totally worth it…)

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Unsolicited feedback Chris - subscribed and saw the web store…

Certainly don’t know what the offer will look like for WB day… but on WB day (and in general) it would be great to be able to customize an order. (1 of X, 2 of Y, 1 of Z kinda thing) vs being required to adhere to predetermined packs… Look forward to trying a couple! [cheers.gif]

Small world! Love it. And your wines are intriguing.

What percentage of the 2017 Lewman was whole cluster?