Sato Wines

"The result is a collection of wines that both reflect their site and terroir while retaining finesse and elegance. I found them utterly entrancing [...] The balance really is knife-edge, the wine fresh and energetic, the flavors dance on the palate and the length is amazing. An exercise in restrained exuberance. Like drinking silk and lace. As someone said, if this came out of a bottle labeled Musigny, it would have surprised no one."
— Ken Gargett on the 2021 releases and the 2021 Sur Les Nuages Pinot Noir

Sato Wines is one of the most quietly extraordinary producers in our range. Yoshiaki and Kyoko Sato left careers in international banking to pursue a dream in Central Otago, and the wines they have built -- slowly, methodically, biodynamically -- have earned a devoted following well beyond New Zealand. In their own words, here is their story.

Sato Wines Ltd. was established by Yoshiaki Sato and his wife Kyoko as a small project in 2009. Starting with 190 cases of Pinot Noir, Sato Wines has grown steadily and now has its own vineyard and winery. Annual production remains around 1,900 cases, deliberately kept small as a boutique project, with wines now sold in 19 countries.

Kyoko and Yoshiaki met in 1998 at a Japanese bank in Tokyo. After 12 years in banking across Tokyo and London, they moved to New Zealand in 2006 with the aim of making their own wines, both studying for a graduate diploma in viticulture and oenology at Lincoln University in Christchurch.

Immediately after graduation, they settled in Central Otago and started their winemaking careers at Felton Road Wines with Blair Walter for the 2007 vintage. After two and a half years in the cellar and vineyard at Felton Road, Yoshiaki moved to Mount Edward as winemaker for Duncan Forsyth in 2009 -- the same year the Sato Wines project began.

Yoshiaki resigned from Mount Edward in September 2012 to concentrate fully on Sato Wines. Production moved to Rockburn Winery in Cromwell for the 2013 vintage, with expanding product lines and volumes alongside work on organic contract vineyards.

Their own home vineyard, La Ferme de Sato, opened in 2016. Kyoko continued working at Felton Road as a vineyard supervisor until 2018 -- 12 years in total -- before joining the project full time. The first harvest from their own vines came in 2019, the same year their winery building was completed. As of 2024, five vintages have now been produced from the estate.

Beyond New Zealand, both Yoshiaki and Kyoko have worked with some of the most respected natural and biodynamic producers in Europe: Bernhard Huber in Baden, Tom Lubb and Sam Harrop MW (Domaine Matassa) in Roussillon, Jean-Yves Bizot in Vosne-Romanee, and Jean-Pierre Frick in Alsace. Kyoko worked with Phillip Pacalet in Beaune, Julien Guillot in Macon, and Christian Binner in Alsace. This European grounding shapes everything they do at Sato.

Working with these producers, Yoshiaki and Kyoko have been shaped by a shared conviction: that wine made with minimum intervention, from organically grown fruit, most honestly expresses the character of its place. At Sato, this means no chemical inputs in the vineyard, no additives in the winery, and no shortcuts at any stage. Natural microbiological balance is preserved from vine to bottle, allowing the terroir of Central Otago to speak clearly and without interference. This is the philosophical core of Sato Wines.

Total annual production is now around 30,000 bottles -- approximately 18,000 from La Ferme de Sato and 12,000 from organic contract vineyards. The estate vineyard is still young but has already attracted serious international attention. Sato wines are currently sold in 19 countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the UK, France, the USA, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Maldives.