Nuits, Beaune et Saké du Japon

As part of Climats Month 2025 and the 10th anniversary of their Unesco listing, a group of French and Japanese guide-lecturers have come together to offer what we hope will be an original experience. The idea is to invite visitors and locals alike to experience a cross-fertilisation between two worlds that are so different yet so close.

Two countries and two cultures on opposite sides of the world, but which have been talking to each other for a long time.
The idea didn't come about as a pretext or out of fashion, but out of history and current events: Japan for Sake, Burgundy for Wine.

These two beverages are defined by their very strong cultural, sacred and historical dimensions. Both have been recognised as having Outstanding Universal Value on the World Heritage List since 2015, and more recently since 2024.

The notion of terroir is essential in both cases. While the hedonistic pleasure of tasting is identical, the sacred dimension of their origins must be remembered.

Whether it's the name of a parcel of Climat in the Côte d'Or or that of a Saké Junmai, in either case, they always carry meaning and symbolism. And without any convoluted pretexts, we can add that both are deeply linked to their terroirs. Nicolas Baumert's book, with a preface by Jean-Robert Pitte, bears witness to this.

Two young Japanese men, Ryuken Tsuchiya and Masanari Takano (during the Meiji era), were sent to France between 1877 and 1879 to study the art of winegrowing. This trip took them to Champagne and Burgundy for training. The prefecture of Yamanashi, from which they came, is home to the precious Koshu grape variety, and today remains the historic wine-growing heartland of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

The choice of AOCs and locations was relatively simple: Beaune and Nuits-Saint-Georges.
The capital of Burgundy wines, with its wine merchants' houses and Hospices, represents the idea of cosmopolitanism through a local product. For the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges, this was an obvious choice, as it has been twinned with Ichinomiya in Japan since 1992.

Two cultures and two beverages, combining the discovery of an AOC, its heritage and Saké, followed by a tasting session. That's what we'd like to propose for this new edition of the "Festival Mois des Climats".

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