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Japanese wine

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Japanese Shinshū Wine (信州ワイン) from Nagano Prefecture

Legend has it that grape-growing in Japan began in 718 CE, in Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture.[1] Wine may have been made from local grapes there, but the first documented case of wine consumption in Japan was in the 16th century, when the Jesuit missionaries arrived from Portugal.[1] Saint Francis Xavier brought wines as gifts for the feudal lords of Kyūshū, and other missionaries continued the practice, resulting in locals acquiring taste for wine and importing it regularly.[1] They called the Portuguese wine chintashu (珍陀酒), combining the Portuguese word tinto (chinta in Japanese accent) meaning red and the Japanese word shu (酒) meaning liquor.[1] However, the proactive adoption of western culture during the Meiji restoration in the late 1860s had to take place before regular production of local wine started.1 The first attempt to produce wine locally was undertaken in Yamanashi, in 1875.[1] During the first period, cultivation of American grape varieties formed the core of Japanese wine grapes, however they experienced a setback with a Phylloxera epidemic. Afterwards the demand for domestic Japanese wine decreased, but in every region some small amount of makers remained. It was not until after World War II during the process of the agricultural revolution when the scale of winemaking began to grow. However, in comparison to imported juices and bulk wine, domestic Japanese wine is still developing.

In terms of Japanese tastes, the astringency and acidity of were not accepted at the beginning.2 For a long time sugars such as honey were added to moderate the flavor and "sweet" (甘口, amakuchi) wine was the mainstay. To consumers of the time wine was recognized only by types like Suntory or Red Jewel Port Wine (赤玉ポートワイン, Akadama Pōto Wain). This trend continued until the 1970s when wine was still fundamentally known as grape liquor (葡萄酒, budōshu), and those with high tastes indulged in imported European wine.3

Recent history

From the 1970s-1980s the level of real know-how about general wine making increased and the intake of non-fruit grapes, in other words, wine grapes spread. This was due to the hard work of specialty makers who, along with beginning to call their farms "wineries", began emulating Western hedging styles and developing specially cultivated insect resistant grape varieties from European strains. Numerous wineries produced superior wines using only pure domestic cultivation, and while looking toward taking some awards at foreign competitions, began to receive high reviews internationally. Also, due to the specific tastes of Japanese consumers, organic wines gained in production as well.

After that, moderation of taxes on imported wines, a diversification of Japanese food culture, and growing awareness of the beneficial effects of polyphenol (tannins), an understanding of real wine in recent years has come about, also a groundwork has been laid out by the promotion of high quality domestically produced wines. From 2002 onward, leading with Yamanashi Prefecture, a competition focused on "Japanese wine using only 100% Japanese grapes" began. Open to anyone from an individual makers called a vigneron (ヴィニョロン, vinyoron), to large producers competing with only the best quality domestic wines.

To accommodate the differing climate in Japan varying hedging techniques are used. In areas of high humidity during the summer, such as Yamagata, an elevated hedging technique is used to keep the fruit about 2-3 meters above the ground to allow ventilation. In areas higher in the mountains, such as Tochigi, where good sunlight is at odds with the jagged terrain, winemakers have planted their hedges on steep hillsides both to receive a maximum of sunlight, as well as protect the vines against damage from heavy snowfall.

Major wine producing regions of Japan

In Japan the main regions for wine production are Hokkaidō and Yamanashi Prefecture. In Hokkaidō, the town of Ikeda recovered economically from a state of bankruptcy with regional planning toward grape growing and wine production and within 20 years following 1960 was able to make it successful. Thereafter, every region began to foster production, the main cause of which was the influence of the nationwide "One Village, One Speciality Movement" (一村一品運動, Isson Ippin Undō) . In Yamagata pref. during WWII wine was produced in large amounts for the military to provide the dietary supplement acidum tartaricum/cream tartar, and because the soil in the basin of Yamagata is suitable to fruit cultivation, today Yamagata is one region that is home to numerous great makers. Also, in the past Aichi Prefecture was a large producer of wine, however today they make hardly any.

Japanese grape varieties

Muscat Bailey A

"Muscat Bailey-A" (マスカットべリーA) is a red wine grape that was developed in Japan by Zenbei Kawakami (川上善兵衛, Kawakami Zenbei) (1868-1944) at the Iwanohara Winery (岩の原わいん) in Niigata Prefecture. Kawakami's goal was to develop a grape for wine adapted to Japan's climate. He did this by mixing the "Bailey" (ベーリー) type grape with "Muscat Hamburg" type grape to give birth to a red wine grape that is widely used in Japan. Also developed by Kawakami was the variety known as "Black Queen" (ブラッククイーン). The characteristics of Muscat Bailey-A are a very grape juice-like flavor and it is most widely used in sweet-style/ama-kuchi wines. However in recent years, more styles of Muscat Bailey-A wines have developed, dryer wines, and barrel aged varieties in addition to sweet style wines. Muscat Berry-A has been blended with western grapes giving birth to a flavor that tends to be a very full bodied, Bordeaux style of wine. In addition, different blending has led to a smoother more Bourgogne/Burgandy style being born.

Mark of Origin

"Mark of Origin" (原産地表示, Gensanchi Hyōji) is a systems of legal designation for wine produced in Japan, much like France's Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) laws and the United States' American Viticultural Area (AVA) designations.

In Japan there is no nationwide organization of legal designation, regardless of domain of origin or types of grape, anything that is fermented domestically has possibility to be labeled as "Japanese wine". Because of that, there are even some wines in circulation as Japanese wines that are produced using imported grape juice.4

However, there are independent self-governing municipal bodies have begun controlled systems of regionally demarkation (appellation). Nagano Prefecture's "Appellation Control System" (長野県原産地呼称管理制度, Nagano-ken Gensan-chi Koshō Kanri Seido), or Yamanashi Prefecture, Kōshū city's "Wine Domain of Origin Certification Regulation" (ワイン原産地認証条例, Wain Gensan-chi Ninshō Jōrei).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Robinson, Jancis (1999). The Oxford Companion to Wine. Oxford University Press. pp. p. 377-380. ISBN 019866236X. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

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