JAPANESE WINES

CONTENT

• History
• Why Japanese Wines?
• Climate and Viticulture
• Japanese Wine Regions
• Grape Varieties
• 3 Big Players
• Japanese Wine Labelling
• Future of Japanese Wines

HISTORY

• 140 years of wine making history
• Started in Yamanashi Prefecture

HISTORY

• Late 1960s, wine drinking boom due to Tokyo Olympic Games (1964) and Osaka International Expo (1970)
• 1980s, Beaujolais Boom
• 1997-1998, Red Wine Boom

WHAT ABOUT NOW?

• Quality of Japanese wine increased
• Shift from French Wine to Chilean wine
• Increase consumption of Japanese wine
• More Japanese females drinking wine
• JSA forecast Japanese consumption per capital to be 5L in 2020.

WHY JAPANESE wINES

• Health consciousness leads to natural cultivation methods
• Quality and reputation improvements

WHY JAPANESE wINES

• Japanese "terroir"
• Japanese wines with Japanese foods
• The Japanese Touch (Indian curry, French cooking, Italian food, Scotch Whisky ...)

WHY JAPANESE wINES

• "Producers including Domaine Takkahiko can quite possibly make the most interesting and complex wines in Japan from Pinot Noir." - M.W. Ned Godwin

WHY JAPANESE wINES

WHY JAPANESE wINES

• 3rd most attractive wine market (Wine Intelligence, Japan Landscape Report 2016)
• Capture the niche market and become market leader of innovation in terms of wine offerings

GRADUATION TOPIC

• Relatively lower price point
• Asian Hospitality with Asian Wines
• Food to pair with are easily sourced and commonly eaten in Asian diet

GRADUATION TOPIC

• Recognition Value is high
• Not covered in WSET
• Topic is not done previously

CLIMATE AND vITICULTURE

• Varied climate and mountainous terrain
• Generally high humidity, lack of sunshine hours, monsoon damages vines with strong winds and rain

VITICULTURE CHALLENGES

• Face with damaged fruits or faced with grey rot or mildew issues

VITICULTURE CHALLENGES

• Solution: adore individual bunches with hats to protect against rain
• Solution: use of modern trellising methods in narrower arrangement against wind damage

Koshu

VITICULTURE CHALLENGES

• Acidic soils and fertile land
• Solution: de-acidification of the soils & controlling yields

VITICULTURE CHALLENGES

• Inadequate sunshine hours
• Solution: Using technology to inhibit rain cloud formations and also shift to local suited grape (Koshu) and cooler climate grapes production

VITICULTURE CHALLENGES

• Land ownership is greatly fragmented, older vineyards owners are not so keen on modernisation and newer methods
• Solution: No effective solutions (a long term issue that is hard to address)

JAPANESE WINE REGIONS

YAMANASHI

• Nicknamed "Kingdom of fruits"
• Vines have very deep roots to absorb water runoff from mountains nearby
• Biggest area, 40% of Japan's wine production
• Humid conditions, moderate temperatures

YAMANASHI

• Origin of Japanese wine making started here in Katsunuma (a town of city of Koshu in Yamanashi Prefecture

NAGANO

• Northwest of Yamanashi
• Humid subtropical climate
• Challenging area- hot humid summers, cold snowy winters with occasional typhoons

NAGANO

• Producers overcame the challenges
• Experimentation with Wine making techniques and vine trellising
• Wines with personalities
• Fresh , herbaceous, light, highly drinkable wines
• STARTED THEIR OWN AOC SYSTEM, other regions learning from them

YAMAGATA

• Lower temperatures than previous regions
• High humidity, low sunshine hours, occasional typhoons during monsoon season
• Only the strongest (vines) survives

HOKKAIDO

• Coldest region -relatively cool summers and snowy winters
• Presence of volcanic plateaus in centre of island
• Vines are buried in earth during winter to protect flower buds from frost damage

HOKKAIDO

• First varieties included Pinot Blanc, Muller-Thurgau, Zweigelt
• Recent varieties are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Kerner
• Most wineries are located near to Sapporo

JAPANESE LOCAL VARIETALS

KOSHU

KOSHU

• 6th-7th century, grape introduced from Central Asia to China then to Japan along the Silk Route together with Buddhism
• Genetic breakdown: 1/4 China variety and 3/4 Vitis Vinefera

KOSHU

• Since the 17th century, table grapes only
• 95% of Koshu in Yamanashi
• Late maturing and thick skin = resistant to diseases, tolerant to humidity
• Citrus fruits, yuzu, creamed rice, sake

MUSCAT BAILEYS A

MUSCAT BAILEYS A

• Crossbreed of Vitis Labrusa and Vitis Vinefera
• Developed by Zenbei Kawakami in 1927

YAMABUDOU

DELAWARE

NIGARA

INTERNATIONAL VARIETIES

INTERNATIONAL VARIETIES

• Merlot
• Chardonnay
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Kerner
• Concord
• Petit Verdot
• Black Queen
• Muller Thurgau
• Zweigeltrebe
• Baccus

THE THREE pRODUCERS

MERICAN

• Biggest market share and wine production
• Previously announced to boost 2017 sales by 3%
• Market Focus : WORKING FEMALES
• Why? (increasing disposable income, the wine purchaser for the family, shifting trend of female drinkers)

MERICAN

• Quality-price ratio
• Lower alcohol content
• Integrated with Japanese diet
• Attractive packaging
• Fruit-driven products
• Placement of product

SUNTORY

• 2nd position
• Bought management rights in European vineyards (Chateau Lagrange in 1983, Robert Well, Rheingau 1988, Chateaux Beychevelle , Chateau Beaumont)
• Function to bring European wines to China and Japan

SUNTORY

• Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards 2015
• Locally-made Rose won the best pairing with Yaki-tori

SAPPORO

• 3rd largest producer
• Production concentrated around Hokkaido wines

JAPANESE wINE lABELLING

JAPANESE wINE lABELLING

• Liquor tax laws regulate the wine only for imposition of tax
• No legal definition of wine (fruit liquor)

JAPANESE wINE lABELLING

• "Domestic Wines"
• 1. Kokunaisan (100% Japanese Grapes, 100% Made in Japan)
• 2. Kokusan ( Grapes imported, fermented and bottled in Japan)
• 3. Yunyu (imported wine, bottled in Japan, origin of Wine should be declared)
• On top of this system, Certificate of Origin standards allowed, as point of differentiation

JAPANESE wINE lABELLING

• Combination of name of origin and grapes in labelling
• Labels emulating the European Wine labels
• "Koshu Of Japan (KOJ)" - voluntary group of producers who maintain standards and promotion of Koshu wine

FUTURE CHALLENGES

• High competition with imported juices
• No legal and formal labelling
• GI system is not allowed in European market
• Image of Japanese Wines

SUPPLY, DEMAND, QUALITY

• Increase in consumption
• Increase in demand (quality and quantity)
• Increase in products offering
• Increase in sales to different market segments (i.e. premium category and working females)
• Increase in supply
• Increase in capital into wine improvements

FUTURE OF JAPANESE WINES

• Japanese Whisky (Yamasaki, Hibiki)
• Japanese Gin ( Rokugin)
• Will Japanese Wine take the world stage once again?

WE WOULDN'T KNOW BUT IT IS LIKELY

FUTURE OF JAPANESE WINES

• High potential for the first world accredited Asian Wine
• To be the leader of innovation in terms of product offerings, we must be equipped with the knowledge of Japanese wines

REFERENCES

• http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/katsunuma-puts-japanese-wines-on-the-...
• https://www.ft.com/content/f52f9790-2848-11e6-8b18-91555f2f4fde
• https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/11/09/food/japanese-wine-not-as-bad-...
• http://explore.flyingwinemaker.com.hk/wine-education/asian-wine/asian-wine-...

REFERENCES

• https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=niagara+grape&rlz=1C9BKJA_enSG697SG700&o...:
• https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=niagara+grape&rlz=1C9BKJA_enSG697SG700&o...:

REFERENCES

• https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=yamabudou+grapes&newwindow=1&rlz=1C9BKJA...
• https://www.google.com.sg/search?newwindow=1&rlz=1C9BKJA_enSG697SG700&hl=en...:

THANK YOU