Yoshiaki and his wife Kyoko have an atypical background. Having worked in the banking industry for 12 years before the idea of making their own wine budded.
In 2006, after quitting their jobs to travel and gain hands-on experience by completing vintages in Burgundy, the Loire and Alsace, they moved back to New Zealand. After a year of study at Lincoln University, Yoshiaki joined the Felton Road team. When he left at the end of 2009 was to start his own label, Sato wines. Their aim is to make elegant, precise wines with minimal intervention, while sourcing fruit from organic vineyards - characteristics that distinguish them from other winemakers in the region. In early 2016, they purchased their own farm in the Pisa sub-region: La Ferme de Sato. Sato Domaine's wines, representing the culmination of their dream of growing and making great wine in Central Otago. After searching for five years, they found the perfect site on a peninsula of the Pisa Ranges, when they finally proceeded to plant some vines following biodynamic methods. The first release of La Ferme de Sato was in 2019.