Japanese Wine on an International Level!

by Hiroshi Kawabata

Do you like wine? At this point in time it seems that practically everyone drinks wine. But in speaking of wine, what is it called? In English it is wine, in French it is vin, in Italian it is vino and in German it is called wein. Furthermore, in Spain it is the same vino as in Italy, but in Portugal they say vihno. However, the original source of all these ways of saying it is the Latin “vinium,” the main river from which the tributaries flowed. In Latin, the grape plant is called “vitis” and the wine that was produced from its vines was named “vinium.” Wine is an alcoholic beverage with a long history and it is said to have been produced for several thousands of years in Europe, but in Japan wine started being produced, not in those long ago times but in the first years of the Meiji Era (1868-1911), approximately 140 years ago.

Well then, following the Meiji Era, Kawakami Zenbei of Niigata Prefecture began selective breeding of varietal grapes for making wine and due to the efforts of many forerunners, superior wine started being produced. In particular, in recent years advanced techniques regarding the fermentation process of wine have spread to the international level and in numerous international competitions there have been wonderful results achieved. At present, within Japan there has been extensive production of wine, from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. The top five producing regions are Yamanashi, Nagano, Yamagata and Okayama Prefectures and Hokkaido. Within those areas, what has garnered the most attention is the wine of the Tohoku Northeast region. The wine produced in that Tohoku Northeast region, called, “Japan’s Bordeaux,” is centered in Yamagata Prefecture. Originally, table grapes were the focus there, but in recent years European varieties of grapes have been cultivated to produce superior wine. The following is an introduction to the wines of Yamagata.

With cherries being representative, Yamagata is known as one of the leading fruit producing regions of Japan. Over the course of many years, it has matured as an area that produces grapes for wine to supply to wineries in Hokkaido and Yamanashi. Besides that, years of training at French wineries in Bordeaux has led to the birth of magnificent wines. There is the wine called Wada from Takahata Winery. We were able to talk to Takahashi Naohiko of Takahata Winery to hear about it. “After Hokkaido, Yamanashi and Nagano, Yamagata is Japan’s biggest wine producing region and is called the Kingdom of Fruit, with production of cherries, grapes and La France pears. That fruit producing region has an environment suitable for the cultivation of grapes for wine in Takahata-Cho, located in the southern portion of Yamagata, which is surrounded by mountains in a valley basin with a valley basin’s special climate, a large difference in daytime and nighttime temperatures. Within this environment, in 1990 Takahata Winery was established. With the idea that ‘Making good wine starts with growing good grapes’ and ‘Takahata climate is reflected in the wine,’ every day we continue the challenge of producing wine. At this time we have decided on two new products, Yoshi Carbonated Grape Wine Chardonnay and Wada Chardonnay, because last year at a wine, sake and Japanese cuisine event held at the New Otani Hotel we presented them and found that they appealed to consumers and left good impressions regarding the high level of interest and taste. In addition, ‘delicious ingredients’ and ‘priority on the delicacy of Japanese cuisine,’ convinced us that these wines are the best and participating in this event convinced us of it. Furthermore, the enthusiasm of Mr. Soga of Maruto Sea Vegetables, Inc. was the decisive factor. Wine depends on the one’s feeling in cultivating the grapes and in fermentation techniques in producing wine and in regards to that all of our staff’s attention is concentrated on that. Without fail, we hope that people try the style of Japan’s Yamagata, Takahata wine along with Japanese cuisine,” he says.

We also heard from Mr. Soga Yousuke of Maruto Sea Vegetables, Inc., which is handling the marketing of the wines produced at the Takahata Winery in America. “The main office of our company is located in Yamagata City. There in Yamagata, the delicious cherries are famous and it is the leading fruit producing region in Japan. In addition, since it has the best climate for the cultivation of grapes for wine, that wine using Japan’s delicious grapes has become the focus of attention and we received samples offered by several of Yamagata’s wineries. Among those, we made a rigorous selection of the best wines and had a tasting in Denver, we judged the consumer response at the tasting at the New Otani Hotel in Los Angeles and for the hardest test of all, we compared them to wines that had competed in California wine contests. Starting two years ago, we visited wineries in places like Napa, Sonoma, Temecula and Santa Barbara as well as making comparison tests against wines that we purchased at various wine shops that we visited. At first, as the standard in judging Japanese wine we used that of the deliciousness of Japanese sake, that is, “Clean crispness on the palate.” However, that was directly opposed to the renowned qualities of wine, its lingering taste in the mouth and the fragrance of its bouquet, so we hit a brick wall there. Nonetheless, our vantage point was in regards to how completely wine (in particular, white wine) enhances Japanese cuisine, so for that purpose we took that expression of delicious taste, “Clean crispness on the palate,” and pressed the point to the ultimate degree in our product selection criteria. In addition, in the top class in Japan, Takahata Winery (which, as a local winery, is the largest in Japan) conducted joint marketing research with us, leading to the rigorous selection of these two products to sell. They are products in the middle price range and since they are imported products for this market, in Napa, the producing region of outstanding wines, as commercial products they are somewhat high-end products, but we have faith that since they use the delicious taste of Japanese grapes to make delicious wines, they will be fully able to compete. In order to match Japanese cuisine with wine using Japanese professionals’ efforts towards continual improvement of the product and sense of taste, who could produce it better?” he says. To further enhance the deliciousness of Japanese cuisine, how about trying Takahata wine with delicious maguro tuna sashimi?