Tea Gathering at Château de Ferrand, Saint-Émilion

On December 14, we held a tea gathering at Château de Ferrand, in Saint-Émilion, near Bordeaux, jointly hosted with the Comte de Chandon-Moët, the Héritiers du Baron Bich, and the Kamei Miraku family of Takatori ware.

The venue was Château de Ferrand, owned by the Bich family, a historic French family known worldwide through BIC pens, and by the Comte de Chandon-Moët, the family whose name is synonymous with Champagne.

In addition to guests from Japan, people traveled by car from as far away as Switzerland and Paris to join us. Despite a nationwide general strike in France—said to be the largest in several decades—which brought TGV services and flights to a standstill, we were fortunate to welcome a wonderful gathering of guests.

Earth is the source of life from which the grapes grow, and it is also an indispensable element in the making of a tea bowl.

It was this shared connection through the earth that allowed these collaborations to come together so naturally, ultimately creating a unique encounter between wine and matcha.

It may be that we are the only people who have ever traveled to a château in Saint-Émilion, welcomed guests there, and served them bowls of matcha.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Count and Countess of Chandon-Moët and to President Maeda for making this extraordinary opportunity possible.