Although Japanese wines are perhaps less well known than their popular beers, sake, and cocktails, the country has been producing grape wine for more than a century. It is a less known but ancient tradition among the small percentage of the population that consumes wine.
Surrounded by mountains at the center of the Japanese archipelago is Yamanashi, a region that has taken advantage of its ideal conditions to become one of the main agricultural areas of the country. This area of Japan stands out precisely for being the largest in wine production, with about 48,000 tons per year that represent 25% of the national wine production.
It’s hard to find a lot of indigenous varieties in Japanese wines, only the Koshu grape, which has evolved for years to be considered as that. However, we majorly find crossbreed grapes, or imported ones, like Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Müller-Thurgau

Japan