Funky Chateau - Toyohiko & Michiko Kanehashi logo

Funky Chateau

Toyohiko & Michiko Kanehashi

16 50 21563 KM

In the mid-2000s, Toyohiko and Michiko Kanehashi were at the height of their respective careers in music production and orthopedic medicine. Toyohiko had worked with the likes of John Legend and Frank Sinatra, producing music for TV commercials and film. Michiko held a lectureship at a Tokyo university and frequently attended conferences in the United States and Europe. They met late in life — when Toyohiko broke his ankle and a friend referred him to Michiko for treatment — and discovered a shared passion for fine wine, in particular natural wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux. “Whenever we met, we drank wine,” Michiko says with a chuckle. “And more wine.” The wine dates blossomed into marriage and then a self-taught journey, starting with both around age 50, from amateur oenophiles into producers of some of Japan’s most sought-after wines — at their vineyard Funky Chateau. The name is inspired by Toyohiko’s love of soul, funk and R&B (his tastes range from Curtis Mayfield to Prince.) Funky Chateau also evokes the unconventional outlook of a husband-and-wife team that resisted pressure from “the experts” to deploy fertilizers and pesticides, in a quest for perfection in the natural wine style that was the leitmotif to their romance. The Funky Chateau journey began with a mere eight vines (four merlot and four chardonnay) on a tiny plot at the foot of Komayumidake in Nagano Prefecture, a reizan (sacred mountain). The Kanehashis read any book they could find on winemaking, applying the learnings to their “moonshine” wine experiments. Gradually, they became experts (obtaining a winemaking qualification in 2011) and grew the estate to the eight hectares it commands today. Legendary Burgundy vintner Henri Jayer’s guide to winemaking (“Tribute to the Great Wines of Burgundy”) became the bible of their wine education. From Jayer, the couple learned a method of forgoing chemical pesticides and fertilizers (called la lutte raisonnee or “well-considered struggle”), using only natural yeast, avoiding additives and keeping yields low to optimize concentration.

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Wines at Funky Chateau

White Wines

Pinot Gris - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Pinot Gris
Pinot Gris
Nagano

@keigods

Sauvignon Blanc - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon
Nagano

@keigods

Strate Cassee - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Strate Cassee
Semillon, Sauvignon
Nagano

@keigods

Chardonnay - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Nagano

@keigods

Gris Gris - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Gris Gris
Pinot Gris
Nagano
Négoce wine
Funky Blanc - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi -2020
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Funky Blanc -2020
Chardonnay
Nagano

@keigods

Sangiovese - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Sangiovese
Sangiovese
Nagano

@keigods

La premiere fois Cabernets - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
La Premiere Fois Cabernets
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Nagano

@keigods

La premiere fois 50&50 - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi -2018
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
La Premiere Fois 50&50 -2018
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Nagano

@keigods

Funky Rouge - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Funky Rouge
Merlot
Nagano
Négoce wine
Pinot Noir - Funky Chateau - toyohiko-michiko-kanehashi -2013
WINE MADE BY A NATURAL WINEMAKER
Pinot Noir -2013
Pinot Noir
Nagano

@keigods

Rosé Wines

No rose wines at the moment.

Orange Wines

No orange wines at the moment.

Sparkling wines

No sparkling wines at the moment.

 

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