Explore Japan — Season 1, Episode 1: Koshu: The Miraculous Wine

Episode synopsis

Yamanashi, one of Japan’s most famous wine producing regions, is home to Grace Winery, winner of a gold medal at a major international wine competition, three years running. It makes a white wine using Koshu grapes, a variety unique to Japan, which it cultivates. The dry wine is pure and elegant, and has a concentrated fruit flavor with crisp acidity. Very popular, it’s exported to twenty countries around the world, including Belgium, where it’s served at top-class restaurants. The wine's delicate flavor, which doesn’t clash with food, is highly prized in the current Japanese food boom fueled by the global trend to live healthier lives. The winery's chief winemaker is Ayana Misawa. Koshu is regarded as a low-sugar, delicate wine with moderate aromas. Japan's wine producing regions have to grapple with heavy rain during the growing season. We reveal how Ayana Misawa created a world-class wine in this challenging environment.

About Explore Japan

Japan continues to thrive as it incorporates cultural elements of music, fashion, cuisine, sports, arts and science from around the world. People’s encounters trigger the fusion of Japan’s and the world’s diverse culture, unceasingly producing a myriad of new phenomena and events. This series will feature how various culture in modern Japan and overseas blend together and influence each other.

More episodes from Season 1

• E2Japan-discovery, Self-discovery: Exchange Students in Tokyo
• E3My Life with Aikido
• E4Delivering to Space
• E5Peru & Japan Fusion of Cuisine
• E6The Somin Naked Festival
• E7The World of Miniatures
• E8The Manufacturing Spirit and Sustainability
• E9Japanese Gardens, Aesthetic Encounters
• E10Going Beyond Tradition: The Challenge of Craftspeople in Kyoto
• E11Innovative Japanese Bread
• E12Capturing Masters’ Workmanship
• E13MUSIC TRUNK: Journey to Discover the Roots of Japanese Sound