

"Dosage" in the Champagne-making process
Wrote about dosage of Champagne for Wine Report here. (Japanese only). Dosage is the (almost) final and important process of the Champagne making. For quality producers, it’s not just a matter of how many grams of sugars to be added or the sweetness/dryness level in the final wine. In this piece, I included my experiences at the masterclass with Alexandre Chartogne-Taillet where we examined 6 different levels of dosage in the same base wine. Also I had the chance to taste wit


Ridge Vineyards produces a legendary wine not far from Silicon Valley
This is the English version of my wine column at Forbes Japan. The Japanese version is found here. The Santa Cruz Mountains can be found close to Silicon Valley. Although not as widely-known as Napa or Sonoma, it is recognized for producing high-quality California wines and is located in the mountains running north to south along the Pacific Coast to the west of the San Francisco Bay area.
Ridge Vineyards is a leading winery in this region. Although it shares an address in


Champagne Tasting by Institute of Masters of Wine
Champagne tasting organized by the Institute of Masters of Wine is my most favorite tasting event in San Francisco. This is held annually and this year marked the 14th anniversary. This year, in addition to the walk-around tasting, there were two seated tasting of prestigious cuvees, that were led by Charles Curtis MW and Tim Mason MW. I attended both sessions. Selection of prestigious Champagne was fantastic, as was the previous years. It is a great and rare opportunity to t