Japanese Wine Comes of Age
Surprisingly good, surprisingly diverse, Sarah Abbott MW discovers wine in Japan
All great wine comes from a knife-edge, but Japanese winemakers have it sharper than most, in this extended archipelago of jagged mountains, winter snow and summer typhoons. Yet the Japanese have been cultivating vines for at least one thousand years, and have had a wine industry since the 1860s. Wine is made in 36 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
For decades, Japanese wine was barely exported, and much was of basic quality, made using imported concentrate. But in 2004 regulations made it easier for boutique wineries to set up. A new law stipulated that only Japanese grapes can make Japanese wine. The quality, diversity, and export potential has soared.
Koshu of Japan
Many producers have won initial profile and exports with Koshu, a delicate dry white. This Japanese vinifera grape is the prettiest of pinks, thick skinned, and rain resistant. It has fresh acidity, and several aromatic compounds in common with Sauvignon Blanc. Koshu’s home turf is Yamanashi, the main prefecture for wine since the 1800s. Tradition and innovation in Yamanashi Ayana Misawa of Grace Wine Winery joined the family winery ten years ago. Like many top young Japanese winemakers, she trained in Bordeaux. Grace’s low-yielding vineyards are at 700m altitude, on volcanic soil, and sheltered by mountains. Their Koshu Kayagatake is seamlessly fresh, with aromas of blossom and a long, eerily delicate finish. Their 2009 Cabernet Franc is subtle, floral and beautifully textured. Richer than Loire, and more delicate than Bordeaux, this classic grape ripens usefully early for Japan.
Enotourism is developing in Yamanashi around Katsunuma and Kofu. The bullet train from Tokyo takes just over an hour to deliver you into this sheltered alluvial fan, cloistered by slopes of maple and the deepest greens.
Winery Katsunuma-Jozo pays tribute to the Portuguese (who first brought European wine to Japan) with their brand name, Aruga Branca. Yuji and Hiro Aruga focus on Koshu, and showcase its versatility in their restaurant, Kaze. A huge joint of wagyu beef is carved with a flourish into translucent slices, and served with their barriquefermented and aged Koshu Branca Pipa. Persimmon-scented and slinky, this full Koshu is great with the beef. Hiro (who worked for five years at Domaine Bize in Burgundy) fully embraces Koshu’s distinctiveness, and has just taken delivery of three Georgian Qvevri (large clay amphorae) in which he will make low sulphur orange Koshu.
Château Mercian’s yuzu-scented ‘Kiiroka’ is another example of delicious skin contact Yamanashi Koshu. Venerable Lumiere winery makes ‘Prestige Orange’: apricot scented, fragrant, and delicately grippy, with a rich but dry finish. Their traditional method sparkling Koshu is beautifully balanced with an ultra-fine
mousse, and is imported into the UK by dynamic retailer and wholesaler Amathus.
Marufuji winery’s Rubaiyat range is named after the Persian poet. The 4th generation owner and winemaker Haruo Ohmura continues the family love of poetry and music. His Rubaiyat Winery Concert, held during the spring-time blossom festival, is a popular attraction. This artisan producer favours extended lees-ageing for racy, mineral Koshu.
Beyond Koshu
Koshu is breaking into export, but a lot of good Japanese wine remains unknown. One hundred miles north west of Yamanashi, Nagano prefecture grows exciting Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. The sheltered inland valley of Shiojiri used to churn out sweet Concord until the Hayashi family – of Goichi winery – planted Merlot in the 1950s. Goichi’s huge old Merlot vines still thrive in the volcanic soils, and produce a floral wine of freshness and delicacy.
Fine reds from Japan
There is big company investment in Nagano, with emphasis on matching site to variety. Suntory Shiojiri Winery’s 2014 Iwadarehara Merlot is concentrated and seductively spicy. Château Mercian – whose consultant was the late Paul Pontallier - has established new wineries close to existing vineyards at Mariko and Kikyogahara. Their ‘Omnis’ Merlot/ Cabernet blend from Mariko is a Decanter Silver Medal winner. Its firm, fine tannin, exotic cherry and mineral finish make for an intense but elegant red.
Boutique wineries are flourishing in Nagano. Shigeyuki Kusunoki left his career in aircraft leasing to study winemaking at Adelaide and establish his eponymous winery in Suzaka. His high altitude, cool climate terroir is producing thrilling Pinot Noir of great delicacy and intensity. (Even further north, the snow-bound island prefecture of Hokkaido is producing Pinot Noir so exciting that Burgundian producer Etienne de Monthille is establishing his own winery there.)
Two hundred miles north west of Nagano, Yamagata stretches inland from the Sea of Japan. Thousands of Japanese visit this region every year to enjoy the epic landscapes and food and wine festivals. Ranch-style Takahata makes modern, hugely appealing wines from the familiar, and the unusual, such as the exuberant red 2014 Wagatsuma, a cross between KoshuSanjaku, Malbec and Merlot. Asahi-machi winery, up in the mountains, has in its wide range an invigorating, scented version of the classic Austrian red, Zweigelt.
Closer to a Japanese identity
Japan’s quest for vine varieties that can transcend the challenges and transmit the personality of this dramatic terroir began in 1890, at Iwanohara, in Niigata prefecture. The mission continues today at this historic snow-bound winery, owned and cherished by Suntory. The Japanese red variety Muscat Bailey A was developed at Iwanohara, and is well suited to the tough local conditions. Now widely planted across Japan, Muscat Bailey A is often dismissed for its reliable but unremarkable production of light, sweet, reds. But Iwanohara’s 2009 Heritage shows the scented, concentrated potential of this Japanese red grape from old, low-yielding vines and attentive winemaking. Back in Nagano, Suntory Shiojiri Winery’s version, oak aged and in a smart burgundy bottle, is gloriously seductive, with notes of cream soda and plum. Not just good reds - they are proudly good Japanese reds.
To find out more about Japanese wine, please contact : E-mail : jfb@jetro.go.jp JFOODO (The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center)
“In 2004 a new law stipulated that only Japanese grapes can make Japanese wine…quality, diversity, and export potential has soared.”