# Domaine Tetta Muscat Bailey A (2023)

- **Producer:** Domaine Tetta
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Muscat Bailey A
- **Region:** Okayama, Japan
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.0%
- **Average price:** €60
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 14–16 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** raspberry, blackcurrant, cherry, plum, toast, vanilla, cinnamon, caramel

## About this wine

Domaine Tetta was founded in 2009 by Ryuta Takahashi in Niimi City, Okayama Prefecture, with a mission to revitalize abandoned local farmland through estate-grown viticulture. Sourcing grapes exclusively from its 6.5-hectare vineyard situated on a limestone karst plateau at 400 meters elevation, the estate operates a gravity-flow winery completed in 2016. Muscat Bailey A is one of the estate's oldest plantings, with vines averaging 25 years of age.

## Interesting facts

- Muscat Bailey A is a unique Japanese hybrid bred in 1927 by crossing Muscat Hamburg with Bailey.
- The wine is aged inside subterranean limestone mining tunnels maintained naturally at 12-15°C.
- Domaine Tetta was created to restore abandoned agricultural land on Okayama's karst plateau.
- Only 3,724 bottles of this 2023 vintage cuvée were produced from 25-year-old vines.

## Food pairing

With its bright acidity, gentle tannin structure, and light body, this natural red functions similarly to a high-acid Gamay or Pinot Noir. It excels when paired with rich white meats, duck, and savory umami dishes featuring soy sauce, plum reductions, or tomato bases.

## Wine making process

Hand-harvested between November 20 and 22, 2023, the grapes were destemmed but kept uncrushed in stainless steel tanks, allowing intracellular fermentation to occur alongside spontaneous native yeast fermentation. Following a 30-day maceration with daily manual punch-downs, the wine was aged for six months in neutral 225-liter French oak barrels inside subterranean limestone mining tunnels. Bottled unfined and coarsely filtered with minimal sulfur, only 3,724 bottles were produced.