TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Generally, Yamagata wine is made out of commonly-used Delaware, traditional Wild Grape, and Muscat Berry A. Western varieties such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are also cultivated, but many of them are dedicated to growing local Japanese grapes, as most of the wine made in these small wineries are consumed within Yamagata. Being produced and consumed within the same region, it is difficult to get these wine elsewhere. Thus, Yamagata wine becomes even more precious.

Now, I would like to introduce to you the wineries I visited in this trip.

TAKAHATA WINE(TAKAHATA WINE)

Founded in 1990 in Takahata-cho, this famous winery welcomes many visitors every year. The winery makes fresh attempts, such as cultivating grapes in each area and producing wine representing each soil’s characteristics. Since the establishment, the winery has received many awards in various contests. This is the largest winery in the area where you can observe the vinification and enjoy tasting different kinds of wine at the wine shop.

OUSUI WINE(SUDO BUDO-SHU)
All the works from growing and harvesting wines, vinification and bottling are done by manual labor of one family. The self-own vineyard called “Shikin-en” grows special grapes for wine in the extensive field, and is also opened to visitors for grape picking from August to mid October. Ousui Wine is a homey winery that approaches winemaking in the traditional style, drawing out the characteristics of the grapes while leaving its original scent and taste.

ASAHIMACHI WINE(ASAHIMACHI WINE)
Producing wine based on the climate of Yamagata. The winery also grows European grapes for vinification. With its long tradition and experience, Asahimachi Wine produces tasty and fragrant wine from its high quality grapes and state-of-the-art wine producing technology. The head-quarter of the winery, “Asahi Wine Castle” is in front of the self-owned vineyard, and there, visitors can watch the bottling process while tasting 20 over kinds of wine and brandy.

KINKEI WINE(SATO BUDO-SHU)

With the motto “Winemaking starts from growing grapes,” the president himself produces grapes in his vineyard. The winery focuses on using 100% of those grapes and Yamagata-produced grapes in all of the products. Being a small winery, they do not produce wines in large volumes, but try to maximize the characteristics of the grapes by a careful and delicate craftsmanship during the vinification.

GASSAN WINE (GASSAN WILD VINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE)
This is a winery in the mountain village located between Asahi Mountain range and Dewa Sanzan with the sacred Gassan as the highest peak. You can enjoy wine tasting while observing the wine producing process. Using the wild grapes that naturally grows in mountain forests and the woods, the locals of this region has loved drinking this wine from the old times even before the name “wine” was known to the Japanese. The wild vine wine awaits for its maturity in the cellar that was once a tunnel of an abandoned national route.

ZAOSTAR WINE(TAKEDA WINERY)
This is a winery known only to those who are familiar with Michinoku-born “Zaostar Wine” and “Chateau Takeda.” Located on a south-facing hill on the base of Zao Mountain range, near Kaminoyama hot spring village. Takeda Winery is one of the oldest winery established in 1920, and since then the winery has been growing grapes with the motto of “good grapes produces good wine.” In the vast vineyard, the winery actively works on cultivating grapes by natural farming methods and brewing its own wine.

See Part 1: Yamagata “Wine Route” Tour in the Middle of Autumn (1)

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

Yamagata is a just like a treasure-box full of delicacies. For example, you can savor wild vegetables in spring, fruits in summer, rice in autumn and seafood from Japan Sea in wintertime, as well as the famous Yonezawa beef. The prefecture is full of epicurean food in all four regions, Okitama, Murayama, Mogami and Shonai. Nowadays, Yamagata stimulates the appetite of Tokyo by opening an antenna shop and popular Italian restaurant cooking their local food ingredients.

It is certainly great to savor the good Yamagata food in Tokyo, but it does not mean that we have access to all Yamagata delicacies, as rare food products are often unavailable in the market. After all, the most effective way to enjoy the seasonal flavor in a reasonable price is to visit the area. The food prepared with Tohoku Michinoku’s fresh air and water tastes the best when you enjoy them locally.

The taste of Yamagata gets even more better with “Yamagata Wine,” being prepared very soon after the grape harvest. Yamagata Prefecture is the third largest producer of grapes in Japan, with 11 wineries of small and large sizes in Yamagata. Each one of them proudly presents their own “local wine” that tastes slightly different from imported wine. The taste varies from fruity demi-sec to brut, but the characteristic of Yamagata wine is “the distinctive acidity with fruity fragrance,” also different from Yamanashi or Nagano wine.

Most of the wineries are small in size. Unlike wineries in Europe, there are wineries producing Japanese sake, or those running touristic vineyards letting the visitors pick grapes during the autumn harvest season. Still, Yamagata wine has a long history; some wineries that even started the business in Meiji Period, around the same time when the preparation of wine first started in Yamanashi. It is more like domestically produced grape sake, rather than wine. From its long history, it makes sense that many families in this region has had a large bottle of wine on the dining table down the ages.

Most of the wineries are located along Route 13 that runs down north to south through the prefecture. Wineries are also scattered around the foot of Mount Gassan and along the nearby Mogami River, but the majority is in Okitama and Murayama region, in Takahata-cho, Nanyo City, and Kaminoyama City by the base of Zao Mountain range. Notably, located in the northern end of Okitama basin, Akayu Area in Nanyo City is the largest grape producer of the prefecture. The area is home to Yamagata wine with four wineries, as well as being a famous onsen resort with a nostalgic atmosphere.

Driving north up along Route 13, the scenic view of vineyards spreads around the mountain slope after passing by JR Akayu Station. As this region is a basin-shaped valley between the mountains, the vineyards are covered with fogs in the morning due to the temperature difference. This morning mist makes the taste of grapes even more sweeter, and these sweet grapes turns into a high quality wine. (To be continued)

See Part 2: Yamagata “Wine Route” Tour in the Middle of Autumn (2)

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.