AP 2025 Early Harvest〈Brewer's Note〉

Mr. Ogasawara grows grapes using natural farming methods at PAPA◯FARM in Katano, Osaka.
He is incredibly stylish and a glowing father who was recently blessed with his third child.

It has been over three years since I first met Mr. Ogasawara.
Three years have already passed since that first, unforgettable AP production.

Allowing for natural fermentation, and trying to incorporate some winemaking techniques into the mead production.
Making time to be involved in and engage with the farming, even if only a little.
(Although, I really only help with the harvest for one day, so I’d deserve it if he got angry at me for saying such things.)

I am grateful to Mr. Ogasawara, who enjoys all of that and works alongside me on the preparation.

This year, too, we harvested Mr. Ogasawara’s Delaware grapes in two separate batches—an early harvest and a late harvest—and prepared them that same day for natural fermentation. Usually, the early harvest results in a higher alcohol content and the late harvest in a lower one, but this year was the opposite.

AP2025, made from the early harvest, is powerful every year and lets you fully experience the umami of the earth; however, this year it didn't quite reach a high alcohol level, resulting in prominent acidity and astringency. It is a finish that even has a stalk-like character characteristic of whole-cluster fermentation, something I’m experiencing for the first time, and I can’t help but think this is what it means to be "capable of aging."

A very precious mead.
Let’s let ours rest for a while too.