Champagne Visionary Richard Geoffroy Applied His Expertise to IWA Sake

In his nearly three decade tenure at Dom Pérignon, Richard Geoffroy jokingly became known as the poet laureate of the Champagne region, as he infused the prestigious brand with his own philosophical musings. It was a surprise for many when Geoffroy transitioned from such a rarified role into the founder of IWA Sake, becoming the only non-Japanese sake producer in Japan. Though there are other non-Japanese players in the market, they aren’t producing themselves—they’re contracting existing makers.

“This is my third chapter,” Geoffroy tells Surface amid a tasting of all five assemblages (a word that roughly translates to blended vintage) that IWA has released since its debut. Born to a winemaking family in the Champagne region, he studied medicine at the University of Reims and became a doctor—before returning to school for oneology. “My life in medicine prepared me for winemaking. Winemaking prepared me for this project in Japan. Harmony is the common thread,” he adds. “If you want to convey the idea of harmony, you have to be poetic or philosophical—non technical.”

Geoffroy developed IWA with a renowned group of Japanese and international partners. “I have a dream team,” he explains. “It all began by finding the right Japanese partner, who was able to facilitate some of this, then finding the land, farming the rice, and building the brewery with Kengo Kuma. The production team has one of the greatest master blenders in Japan, Masato Yabuta, who comes from one of the most ancient sake houses, Kenbishi, established in 1505.”

Kuma is more than the architect of the brewery—he architected the very partnership IWA is founded upon. “I couldn’t find the right partner after one year of traveling around with a train pass and a carry-on, alone,” Geoffroy says. “I was in Tokyo having dinner with Kengo, telling him about my frustrations and my feelings of giving up. He said ‘no, Richard, there’s one guy, Ryuichiro Masuda. Let’s go together and we shall see.’ Kengo brought me to the person that would become my partner.” The three of them spent the weekend together in Tateyama and IWA began to form.

Geoffroy observed that many sake breweries happened to be in the suburbs. He envisioned something different for IWA. “We wanted a location that conveyed the idea of excellence,” he says. “Since I already knew that the project would be oriented toward the world outside of Japan, I had the idea of a brewery in idyllic rice patty fields. This is so rare for a brewery in Japan.”

“The brewery architecture is inspired by the local farmhouses with thatched roofs,” he continues. “We did not thatch the roof for safety reasons, but we reference it.” The idea was to appeal to both Japanese and foreign visitors through the nuance and the significance of the design. The Kuma-designed space houses everything under one roof, from the visitor center to the production facility. Guests are immersed in the process; they’re connected to the rice fields and the sake production. There are even bedrooms to accommodate them.

Geoffroy tapped another friend to design the bottle. “I never considered anyone else,” he says of Marc Newson. “I wanted something which would carry an element of mystery. I wanted it to be minimal yet warm. We also wanted legibility.” To bring this brief to life, Newson utilized a patented laser-cut technique to hot melt glass on top of glass. Further, there’s no paper and no cork; the closure is glass and the back label is applied aluminum. Calligrapher Mariko Kinoshita collaborated with designer Hideki Nakajima for the text. The result is a tactile, super-premium vessel.

For the liquid, Geoffroy invoked a method quite common in the wine world: blending. “After years of experimentation, we concluded that the only way to achieve balance with sake is through blending,” he says. “We are blending because it is the answer to our ambition.” He blends sakes produced predominantly from one harvest, though a fraction is from a sake reserve.

“I wanted to make it rich yet flowing,” Geoffroy says of the weightless texture. “The only way to do that is through balance, and the only way to achieve balance is through blending. And yet, to me, an assemblage alone is not sufficient,” he adds. “Why bother achieving superlative harmony if you do not allow sufficient time to have it fully expressed?” As such, IWA ages sake in bottles. The most recent assemblage, for example, spent twenty months in the bottle before distribution.

IWA has been on the market in Japan for five years, with the first assemblage launching in 2019. The pandemic led to an early shift toward online sales—and the first year was a wild success. “The vision is that I want to be deeply and proudly received in Japan,” he continues. “I am French but the company is Japanese. The staff is Japanese. The brewery is part of the local community.” To underscore this, Geoffroy partners with eight different local chefs to prepare food for guests. 

Since, it has begun to disperse globally. IWA can be found in over 170 Michelin-starred restaurants worldwide, including more than 40 three-star restaurants. “It’s all about being a balancing act between Japan and the world. I want to embrace the diversity of the different cultures especially with food,” he says. Assemblage 5 of IWA is a good representation of these values. It offers a substantial aromatic presence of pear and plum, and coats the palate with a citric complexity; and while the flow is light, the peppery finish lasts long. IWA’s Assemblage 5 can be enjoyed at various temperatures, and doesn’t need to complement food to feel like the gourmet experience that Geoffroy dreamed for sake.