We brought a bit of Natural Maremma into the Land of the Rising Sun. Impressions and emotions
The story of Fattoria La Maliosa Japan tour in the words of Antonella and Caterina
Antonella
I am writing these reflections a few days after returning from the Japan trip that took place in February 3 – 10 2024, that being the first time I visited the country since March 2019 to present La Maliosa natural wines and extra virgin olive oils, together with our importer BMO/Kataoka.
This trip was first of all a great emotion! It was nice to go over memory lane in the places and situations experienced in 2019 when with Prof. Lorenzo Corino we visited the same cities to present the Japanese edition of his book “Essence of wine and natural viticulture”: everywhere we were welcomed with great anticipation and warmth. After 5 years, Lorenzo was no longer at my side, instead I traveled with Caterina who has been working with us since 2020. All the same we felt even more enthusiasm in welcoming us and our natural wines.
But sometimes numbers can describe better than words, here they very well show our commitment:
6 days
3 cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka
4 events in restaurants
5 visits to wine bars and specialty shops
2 conferences followed by a wine tasting
2 tasting stands dedicated to BTOB
1 training dedicated to the BMO salespeople and sommeliers
What remains of this very intense week?
We brought the Natural Maremma to Japan, with our history and winemaking tradition.
We met hundreds of people and they all appreciated our story.
We have re-established and deepened the relationship with the BMO team, who are so important in bringing our values and wines to the Japanese public.
We noted with satisfaction and a hint of pride that if we don’t settle but dare to think “big” even as a small company we can speak to a wide audience and find attentive ears for our message.
And Japan and the Japanese people once again struck and impressed me with truly unique and specific qualities.
- Culture and civic sense: everywhere respect, cleanliness, education, empathy, curiosity and desire to learn.
- Attention to sustainability as a primary and substantial characteristic in wine production and in general in all the aspects concerning farm life.
- Attention to ethics, as a concrete company practice, not only towards the environment but also towards the people who work in the farm.
- Japanese cuisine! It pairs wonderfully with our natural wines.
Something negative… the time difference! But it’s not their fault.
Our visit exceeded expectations, thanks to our importer BMO – Kataoka who put great work, energy and commitment into making the trip a success. An important factor was also BMO making available sommelier Seju Yang for our events, with his great experience in tasting natural wines, and therefore describing them in japanese.
Only the long term work on the brand and constant investment in the producer over the years can produce these excellent results!
Ps. A final thank you also to our friend Take Kawamura who led us by the hand on subways, trains, restaurants, alleys and cities, always worried about our punctuality! We hope we didn’t make him look bad!
Caterina
The charm that the Land of the Rising Sun aroused in me from the first moments was absolutely magical.
The initial feelings of confusion and surprise due to the substantial linguistic block (almost no one in Japan speaks English) were soon replaced by great admiration and emulation towards a population who was punctual, respectful, very silent and with a great gift: the ability to listen.
In all the meetings where I had the pleasure to participate as La Maliosa representative everything was impeccable: organization, welcome, participation, feedback from people present.
The thing that I will always carry in my heart is their respect and admiration for our work and sacrifices made over time. Thank you Japan!
You can find the complete photogallery of our trip on our Facebook page
