Cool stone Koshu

It's from Japan and we like it A LOT.  By Kate

I did know that Japan made wine but I suppose I had written it off before I even tasted it.  Grossly unfair of course but in my head, China, Japan and India had formed a kind of Axis of Ordinariness At Best, based on what I have tasted recently from the other two. 

 

Ordinary at best; down right hideous much of the time.

 

Thanks to the recent Koshu tasting in London, I can now confirm that I was completely wrong.  The best of the wines of Japan are not ordinary at all.  Quite the opposite and for palates increasingly acclimatised to natural and unembellished flavours, absolutely of the moment.

 

First, some facts.

 

Koshu is their most important native variety; a grape which travelled East approximately 1000 years ago;  settling first in China before spreading to Japan.   Today, it is grown mainly in the Yamanashi Prefecture  and Japan has 480 hectares.  This is relatively titchy but then Japan is not a big country and much of what it does would fall into the ‘small but perfectly formed’ category.  The best of the wines I tasted were perfect examples of this.  Quiet, pared down perfection. 

 

The Yamanashi Prefecture  has both volcanic soils and long, sunny summer days although the temperature extremes are dramatic and it gets incredibly cold as well.   There is rainfall in the summer too which makes this a difficult place to practise organic viticulture and as yet, no-one is fully registered but quite a few producers are working towards this.

 

 Wine in the European mould has been made made  here since 1874,  in Kofu City.  In 1877, the Dainippon Wine Company sent two young men to France to learn the trade and on their return; they were instrumental in establishing what is today a small but thriving region with over 80 wineries.

 

I was lucky – the very first wine I encountered at the tasting was one of the best, so I was immediately impressed. Let me be clear though – there is no doubt that  my palate,  after years of exposure to the kind of crystalline purity which some styles of natural wine exhibit,  is perhaps more attuned to these than it might otherwise have been. 

 

I really don’t mean to imply that these are only for an elite few – not at all – but fans of big, bouncy fruit are probably going to feel bemused by Koshu.    The flavours are on a small scale; there is a modesty to them that I loved immediately.  The best examples had more than enough complexity but you had to concentrate to find it.   Meditating on them was entirely worthwhile though as, in the best examples, the layers were there.  White flowers, fresh nuts (almond and hazelnut and even peanut in some – not something I have encountered before), here and there just a hint of lychee; all bound up in crisp lime acidity and finished off with flavours of cool stone.

 

There was even a sparkling which I  fell in love with immediately.  It was like a very minerally sparkling water with added grapefruit zest.  If you don’t like the sound of that you will probably like the taste even less but I thought it was sensational.  Again – clean, vibrant, unalloyed.

 

These were all low-ish or low alcohol, hovering around the 10 – 11% abv mark too; another highly commendable point.

 

We are currently investigating the possibility of getting a Koshu on the Green & Blue shelves in the foreseeable future, so do keep an eye out for this.  If you come across one on your travels though, it is well worth giving a go.  No, not all of them were great but most were at the very least passable and there were more than enough truly fine examples to make this utterly worth while.