Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture ¨C ¡®Kicchae, kicchae,¡± Noriko Kishidaira¡¯s father said. ¡°Just cut ¡¯em down!¡±
It was the 1990s and the young woman had recently returned from a four-year spell studying winemaking and training at vineyards in France, imbued with a conviction that old vines passed down through generations produce finer wine.
Shigenobu Takeda, head of the , deep in Japan¡¯s snow country, rejected his daughter¡¯s impassioned appeal to save family vines planted in the 1920s. He saw an opportunity to replant the estate¡¯s original vineyard with superior grapes.
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