“Kataoka Merlot Private Barrel Réserve” 2020 & 2021 Vintage – Now Available at HUGE Restaurants

A truly exclusive wine, created in collaboration with Japan’s legendary winemaker, only available at HUGE.

Kōsei Ajimura, a pioneer in Japanese wine and a leading figure who brought global recognition to Merlot from Shiojiri, Nagano, continues to shape the future of Japanese wine through his Merlot-exclusive winery, Domaine Kōsei.

HUGE is proud to present the exclusive “Kataoka Merlot Private Barrel Réserve”, crafted in collaboration with Ajimura-san. The 2020 and 2021 vintages—meticulously blended, bottled, and finished by our sommeliers—have now reached perfect maturity.

In 2020, HUGE CEO Yoshihiro Shinkawa and Corporate Sommelier Hiroshi Ishida visited Shiojiri for a barrel tasting, selecting two standout barrels from that year’s vintage. The blending, final tasting, label design, labeling, and wax sealing were all done entirely by the HUGE sommelier team, resulting in a truly one-of-a-kind wine that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Each bottle is inscribed with three words that define its character:

Purity, Harmony, Velvet.

Aromas of ripe plum and cassis, a mineral backbone, and velvety tannins that linger in graceful harmony. The wine has been praised as rivaling the quality of top Bordeaux—now ready to be experienced by the glass.

【2020 Vintage Available at:】