French fellow winemakers leap to defend Japanese couple facing deportation, hailing their ‘extraordinary’ reds
Rie and Hirofumi Shoji have devoted their life savings to making their Pedres Blanques wine in southern France, harvesting grapes by hand and earning the admiration and respect of other farmers
French wine lovers have risen up in revolt after a Japanese couple who make “outstanding” wine in southern France were threatened with deportation.
More than 42,000 have already signed a petition protesting the “crazy, moronic and shameful decision”, with wine and restaurant critics now joining the outcry.
Rie and Hirofumi Shoji’s “exceptional” red wine, Pedres Blanques (White Rocks), made from grenache grapes near Banyuls-sur-Mer in the French Catalan region of Roussillon, became an instant hit after their first harvest last year.
It has already made the cellars of the world’s best restaurant, Can Roca, just across the Spanish border in Girona, and top Paris restaurants have also been vying to stock up on the natural wine.
Their first year of production completely sold out, with 10,000 bottles quickly snapped up and the price surging from €12 (US$14) to €26.