◆ How did you come to be a winemaker living in New Zealand?Yoshiaki Sato -- My wife Kyoko and I used to work in Japan's largest bank in Tokyo and that's where we met. I worked there from 1994 until 2006. It was an exciting job but I wanted to make something by myself.I believe you have to work on your passion in life, so I really wanted to follow mine by making wine. Kyoko agreed with me, and we started to look in that direction. In 2001, I was transferred to London and it was a good opportunity to look around the traditional winemaking regions in Europe, and we came to love wine more deeply.We came back to Tokyo in 2004 and started to change our direction in life in 2005. When we looked at where to go, we wanted to make Pinot Noir and an aged crisp white, which means a cool climate region. So New Zealand was the natural choice for us. Lincoln University offers a one-year program in Viticulture and Oenology, and we thought 'let's go down there and learn about wine, and then decide our next steps.' We both did the wine course at Lincoln, and now grow grapes and make wine together.◆ How did you transition to working in th e vineyards in Central Otago?After graduation we looked for work in Central Otago because of the people we knew there. We were very lucky because Felton Road hired us, and Blair Walter put me on the vintage crew. Central Otago already had a reputation as a premium Pinot Noir region, and the capacity to make nice crisp whites. So we set off in the right direction.◆ How did you source your grapes and winery for your first wines?It's another lucky story. From the beginning our intention was always to make our own wine. I joined Mt. Edward in 2009, working as cellar crew and vintage hand, and became their winemaker in 2010. As well as making wine for Mt. Edward, we made our own Sato label at Mt. Edward from 2009 until 2012.Our grapes are all purchased from organic vineyards. In 2009 it wasn't really difficult, but nowadays it is. Things have changed a lot, with big wine companies from other regions in New Zealand coming in and buying up the vineyards and grapes. So even as the price of grapes shoots up, we continue to buy fruit from the same organic Pisa Terrace vineyard where we sourced fruitfor our first wine in 2009. We have also established a good relationship with the North burn Station vineyard, where we lease a Pinot Noir vineyard which we manage ourselve.We left Mt. Edmund after the 2012 vintage because we wanted to increase the volume of Sato wines. From 2013, we rented space at Rock burn Wines. Now are we building our own winery, so next year will be the first vintage from our own vineyard and winery-it will be a big year for us.◆ Tell us more about your own vineyard ?We have 3.2 hectares of vineyard planted with 5 different varietals, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Gamay and Cabernet Franc. In Central Otago most of the vineyards are alluvial soil from glacial wash, but if you go up over 300 meters you start to find the original schist pebbles which add variety to the wine. Our vineyard ranges from 295 up to 345 meters. At the bottom the soil is more fertile because the rain has washed down soil over the years, but on the terrace at the top it is more boulders and schist pebbles.Most of the vineyard is east facing so it is always looking at the sun above us, and receives the earliest morning sun in the region. Pinot Noir likes the morning sun, and facing east cuts the intensity of the sun so we can enjoy longer hang time at harvest and get a nice acidity level. It is also easier to manage the canopy to get a good balance in the wine.◆ How do you plan and build your own winery ?W e don't need a big winery. W e are aiming for a winery that can process 30-35 tonnes, which is a little more than we need. Building costs in New Zealand right now are crazy, so what we build is limited. We kept the design very simple. While gravity flow is good, it adds complications. We'll minimize the use of pumps and machines by doing some by hand, and for big barrels use the forklift. Most important, the space where we mature wine in the barrel is separate from the main winey area. It has a nice structure, and insulation to control the temperature.◆ You are celebrating your 10th year of winemaking. How has your approach to winemaking evolved over time?The concept of Sato wines is just Kyoko and me. We try to keep everything within our capacity, rather than getting larger and moving away from what is important for us. With our own vineyard, and the Pinot Noir vineyard leased from Northburn, we have just over 4 hectares, which is the maximum the two of us can handle.As the grape grower and winemaker we strive to make wines that reflect the character of the vintage and the vineyard. He althy organically-grown grapes are fermented with natural yeast from the vineyards. We do not add any additives to our wines so they can be aged for a long time. Also, we don't use any clarifying agents nor do we use any filtration. Only an extremely small amount of 502 is used before bottling, and some years we don't use any 502 at all. What comes out each year reflects what we are doing.For our first vintages from 2009 to 2011, we picked our grapes at the same time as other growers, and those wines have more alcohol, volume and fruitiness. From 2012 we started to pick the fruit very early, and the wines have more fresh acidity and less alcohol. I believe this wine style better shows the cool climate, but we also realized they were sometimes too tight. From 2013 to 2015 we aged the wines in barrel for almost 20 months, and even after release they needed another 2 years.From 2016 we picked just a little bit later, being careful with the tannin and phenolic structure of the skins. So 2016, 2017 and this year I believe the wines are successful - you can drink them now, but age them if you want.We have lots of challenges and excitement ahead. In Central, 85% of the vineyards are planted in Pinot Noir, and because of its success, people don't have to worry about what to plant, and don't want to take any risk. So I just wanted to try other red varieties by myself. We still don't know what the right varietal to grow in Central Otago is, and look forward to continuing to explore new directions in our own vineyard.Mr and Mrs Sato