Japan has been cultivating grapes for several centuries and producing wine since the late 19th century. This somewhat marginal production (compared to the much more abundant sake production on the archipelago) includes an even more confidential sub-category: Japanese natural wine. Natural wine is made as naturally and cleanly as possible. Its producers use organic grapes and indigenous yeasts but no additives – except for sulfur in rare exceptions. They also refuse filtration and fining. This winemaking, which is ultimately just a return to ancient methods, is finding an increasingly important echo among winemakers and enthusiasts, particularly in France. Japan is no exception, and there are a small number of estates or winemakers participating in this global effort to rediscover the original essence of wine.
Among these explorers of exhumed traditions, let us mention the estates Grape Republic and Fattoria Al Fiore, located near the Japanese Alps, Hitomi in the Shiga prefecture or the winemaker Yuki Nakano in his urban cellar in Tokyo. Japanese natural wine is not just a curiosity on the global wine map. It is primarily a foundational work to rehabilitate grape varieties that are better known on tables than in bottles. This is the case for hybrid grape varieties such as Koshu, Muscat Bailey A, the Steuben or the Delaware. These rare and astonishing cuvées develop a characteristic aroma of small fruits…
Exceptional delights to discover in our shop, the only one in France offering such a wide range of Japanese natural wines!
