Hirotake Ooka was a chemistry student in Japan when he discovered natural wine and found his vocation. After working with Jean-Louis Grippat in St Joseph and Thierry Allemand in Cornas, he started his own winery in the early 2000s. Ooka translates to ‘grande colline’ in French, so it seemed destined that he would end up in St. Peray, in Northern Rhône, working on a big hill. Ooka’s main goal is to create the best natural wines possible with minimal intervention. The grapes are hand-picked in a vastly biodiverse environment, with no chemical additions or treatments at any time. The end products are expressive, mercurial wines. Le Canon is a combination of Syrah and Grenache, aged for 24 months in a tank and bottled. The idiosyncrasies of natural wines come into play here with a nose of ripe cherries, smoke and leather and a smooth mouth with a nice finish.