From Vineyard to Glass – Through the Eyes of a Winemaker

Recently, a wine glass produced by a renowned Master of Wine (MW) was introduced in Japan, garnering considerable attention. This particular MW has consistently used the same glass for both red and white wines throughout many years of professional practic …

This article focuses on the compounds extracted from wooden barrels during wine aging and their effects on wine. Discussions of barrel aging are often reduced to the notion of “oak aroma,” with an emphasis on aromatic attributes alone. In practice, howeve …

When storing wine, there’s probably one question that everyone has wondered about at least once: how should the bottle be positioned? Should wine bottles be stored horizontally, or should they not be stored vertically? A quick search reveals many explanat …

Sparkling wine, epitomized by Champagne, is an indispensable element at parties and other festive occasions. Have you ever wondered how this effervescent wine containing carbon dioxide gas is actually produced? While explanations of production methods are …

When discussing the taste of wine, haven’t you often heard the phrase “wine tastes different from vineyard to vineyard”? In fact, this statement merely describes something extremely obvious. What’s more, if you find yourself convinced by this narrative, y …

Whenever I occasionally post about “natural wine” on X (formerly Twitter), those posts tend to be shared relatively widely for my account size. This simply indicates how many people react to this particular keyword. In recent years, especially in Japan, t …

Why South African Wines Deliver Exceptional Quality at Accessible Prices South African wines have become indispensable in the global market as leading examples of high-quality yet affordable wines. While Chile once dominated this category, South Africa is …

On September 12th, the winery where I work harvested grapes for the first time in the 2019 season. While grape growth wasn’t as abnormally accelerated as in 2018, when the harvest came nearly a month earlier than usual, 2019 still marked the beginning of …

With the arrival of summer, grapevines in vineyards continue their growth cycle. Currently, vineyard operations are proceeding simultaneously with lateral shoot removal, leaf removal, and shoot tip cutting. During this period, Germany experienced two days …

You tasted a white wine at a winery or wine shop and liked it enough to purchase it. However, you felt it was still a little early for drinking, so you decided to let it rest a bit longer in your home cellar. Six months later, at the dinner table. You kne …

When people begin studying wine, many learners are taught that “wine grape cultivation takes place between 30° and 50° North latitude and 30° and 40° South latitude,” aren’t they? Then, when they move on to the chapter dealing with German wines, they like …

When introducing wines in Japan, it seems that reference to the type of soil in which the grapes were cultivated is frequently made as one of the elements expressing a wine’s character. While this tendency is not limited to Japan alone, it appears particu …

Freshness is the lifeblood of fruit. This holds true for winemaking as well. Therefore, harvested grapes should be processed into wine as quickly as possible—every minute, every second counts. Many people may hold this image of winemaking. The topic we ex …

In a recently published article titled “Wine Off-Flavors | UTA / ATA,” I discussed how aged nuances detected in what should be young white wine may indicate the presence of UTA, one type of off-flavor. In that article, I introduced the addition of ascorbi …

Wine can be classified in several ways. One of the most fundamental classifications is based on color. The most representative categories are white wine, red wine, and rosé wine. However, wine color classifications extend beyond these three. Yellow wine ( …

Recently, I had the opportunity to taste wines at a winery located in Enzan, Yamanashi Prefecture. During the tasting of several wines from their lineup, one particular characteristic struck me strongly: the taste of iron. When I asked the winemaker about …

Acids are indispensable elements in wine. However, acids are inappropriate whether they are too abundant or too scarce. The overall balance is extremely important. Wine contains multiple acids, but from a winemaking perspective, tartaric acid and malic ac …

Wine aging is a crucial element that deepens the wine’s flavor profile. While wines generally evolve through oxidative aging, an alternative method called “biological aging” is sometimes employed during the winemaking process. Biological aging is a matura …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9hVTlhyZDc Among wine enthusiasts, the belief that “good vineyards” produce quality wines is widely accepted. Wines from vineyards with classifications such as Grand Cru or Premier Cru are often perceived as “distinctly di …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-SccwUyehI The term “natural wine” remains a perpetual source of heated debate among wine enthusiasts. This phrase has become so ubiquitous that it jumps out at us from Tokyo’s streets in combinations like “natural wine an …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3zcrR39d8Q In recent years, the concept of “diversity” has become a frequent topic of discussion within the wine industry. However, this diversity does not merely refer to variations within traditional frameworks such as d …