Ken Sasaki points between vines of chardonnay and savagnin grapes amid overgrown grass bursting with dandelion, red clover, hawkbit and other weeds. The vineyard evokes a wild heath more than a field for growing wine grapes of the highest quality.
The husband-and-wife team of Ken and Kazuko Sasaki is leveraging world-class French winemaking qualifications — and training at some of France’s most renowned wineries — in an unlikely mission to create table wines “that you can drink like water.”
Ken and Kazuko earned elite oenology degrees from the University of Burgundy in France during the 2000s. Ken trained at renowned wineries such as Domaine Leflaive in Burgundy and Domaine Binner in Alsace. Kazuko gained experience at the prestigious Domaine Parent in Burgundy and Chapoutier in the Cote du Rhone. During their studies, they shared a dream to create wines that express a Japanese terroir through mastery acquired in France.