Phéromone 21/22 Osamu Uchida

Osamu Ushida, a native of Hiroshima, was first introduced to wine by a friend with a passion for German wines. This led him to travel to France in 1999 to discover its vineyards and learn French. Over the course of a few years, he visited over 300 estates across France, trained in viticulture and oenology in Vayres and completed numerous internships in Savoie, Côte-Rôtie, Banyuls and Château Larrivet Haut-Brion. Following a detour in Japan, where he worked as an importer, he returned to France in 2010 and became a tour guide. Against everyone’s advice, he decided to settle in the Médoc and produce natural wine. In 2015, he eventually unearthed a tiny 0.6-hectare plot in Cussac, on the edge of the forest, and set about cultivating Cabernet Sauvignon vines using organic methods. His wines, a few thousand bottles aged in 500-litre barriques and amphorae in his garage, are remarkable for their precision. Today, he tends to three hectares of vines using biodynamic methods and produces wines of the highest quality. An estate to follow.