A single bunch of pinot noir grapes is left on the vine after harvest has ended at Mie Ikeno’s vineyard, at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains.
“The birds will take them,” she says. “It’s a susowake, or sharing back with nature.”
Nature abounds in full glory at Domaine Mie Ikeno. Mount Fuji, Japan’s Southern Alps and the Yatsugatake range form a 360-degree backdrop to the undulating fields that yield some of Japan’s most prized chardonnays, pinot noirs and merlots.