Château Lagrange

Even before I moved to Tokyo in the early 2000s, one of my favorite writers had long been the Japanese novelist and short-story master Haruki Murakami. His voice is unmistakable. Not classically Japanese, not Western either, Murakami’s work draws from a vast constellation of cultural influences—jazz, American literature, surrealism—layered with humor and a quiet emotional undercurrent that often reveals itself only after the fact. Since Japanese drinks giant Suntory purchased Château Lagrange in 1983, the estate has been on a similarly patient trajectory toward a singular identity. The best recent vintages are not just delicious—they have subtext.