The Koshu Wine Project

By creating our wine, we brought Koshu to the international market, a long journey for a grape varietal popularized by Japanese royalty. Indigenous to Japan since the 8th century, the popularity of Koshu peaked previously as table grapes that were considered a delicacy during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1600-1867). In fact, the grapes were cultivated in the Katsunuma region not because it was neccesarily the best region for cultivation but becuase it was just 100 kilometers from Edo (old Tokyo) and the Shogun built the Koshu road by which servants could transport the best grapes by marching 3 days straight, directly to his castle. Surplus grapes were then sold to commoners in what are now important business districts in downtown Tokyo, Akihabara (now one of the world's largest technology districts) and Kanda. Japanese winemaking has its origins in a diplomatic mission to France, after the Meiji Restoration (1868), the new Japanese government sent a mission to Paris during the Paris Exposition and brought back the first technology for winemaking. Since then, winemaking flourished but the quality was poor and was sold domestically to those who could not afford sake. After the Second World War many Japanese wineries began to experiment with both European and non-vinifera varietals. Subsequently, varieties and quantities of table grapes increased, however, from the 1980s the import duties on foreign wines were drastically reduced and domestic wines, unable to compete on both quality and price, saw their market share reduced from 40-20%. Over the past 50 years, as a number of delicious alternative table grape varieties became introduced to Japan, the production of Koshu declined. We are happy to reinvigorate Koshu through the production of fine wines, and it is fitting to turn this, Japan's only historically significant fruit, into one of the nation's first successful agricultural exports. The summit of Mt. Fuji is Japan's highest peak and provides a beautiful backdrop to our pioneering effort in a type of viticulture in Japan known as the Vertical Shoot Position (VSP), a method of planting that differs considerably from the paragolia/canopy approach traditionally used to grow Koshu as table grapes. We brought in consultants from Australia and New Zealand who used their expertise from the "New World" wine industry in climates similar to Japan in order to bring a scientific approach to the design, layout and cultivation of these vineyards, with valuable input from local Japanese farmers and their knowledge of the the soil, climate and general expertise iwith local agriculture. Beyond the commercial value of these wine grapes the Koshu Wine Project is dedicated to continuing to improve viticulture in Japan through experimental vineyards and the exchange of knowledge between domestic and international experts. – Description from Dragac    (hide)