Friday read: Koshu brings flavour of Japan to London

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 14 February, 2025

This year’s Koshu of Japan (KOJ) tasting at Japan House, which brought together some 100 or more trade and press for a tasting of the nine collaborating wineries last week, marked a further advance of these wines’ delicate footprint in the UK market.

Master of wine Sarah-Jane Evans, who hosted one of the masterclasses at that event, later said that “this year feels like a coming of age”, highlighting the diversity of terroirs revealed within the styles from Japan’s pre-eminent wine region. And in a world turning to naturally fresher, lower alcohol, more elegant wines – while also being open to discovery – Koshu is beginning to attract some attention.

Harpers took a separate deep dive into the world of Koshu following that tasting, courtesy of Grace Wine, which hosted its first UK masterclass at London’s Trivet restaurant, with winemaker Ayana Misawa presiding over the event.

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Showing a range that folded in wines from differing terroirs, ranging from 400m to 700m elevation in Koshu’s home in Yamanashi prefecture, Misawa explained how the delicacy of this native grape typically dictates how it is handled in both vineyard and winery.

“Koshu is a semi-aromatic grape variety, has crisp acidity and typically is lowish in alcohol, between 11.5% abv and 12.5% abv, with notes like gooseberry, white pepper and Japanese stone fruits,” she said.

“Everything is hand-picked and whole bunch pressed, and the wines are in stainless steel,” Misawa added, explaining that this helps to preserve the natural elegance that Koshu has become known for. And the first three Grace wines shown certainly expressed the subtleties of the variety, but aligned with a very clear sense of terroir from each given vineyard and plot.

For those in the UK that are only just becoming acquainted with Koshu, the Grace wines, from this fifth-generation century-old estate, are a great benchmark for the style, which collectively has the added emotive appeal of being produced in sight of Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji.

However, despite this pedigree, Misawa highlighted the relative youth of the region, adding that the fresh lens of international varieties Grace has planted – namely Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and (very promising) Cabernet Franc – are helping with understanding of the varied terroirs.

“I studied [winemaking] in France, but I grew up with Koshu, it’s fun to make and has so much potential, but we still have so much to learn. We’ve 102 years of family history, but that’s not enough!” said Misawa.

Helping move things forward, she has an ongoing project up her sleeve, which is aimed at bringing another, age-worthy dimension to this variety. The early results of this were revealed in a sample of Koshu Misawa Vineyard 2023, from volcanic soils some 700m in elevation, which was fermented with indigenous yeasts and left to undergo malo and then mature in neutral oak barrels.

This was also shown alongside a 2014 stainless steel-elevated wine, made from the same vineyard, using only the ripest, longest-hanging fruit, to show the potential of Koshu to age, with the wine being mineral-fresh and complex, despite its decade of maturity.

“The last two wines are my ‘babies’, I want to make Koshu with ageing potential… my father made a very dry style, but I have gone the other way, with some residual sugar, to help with ageing, plus barrel ferment and maturation,” Misawa revealed.

Though not imported to the UK, these latter two wines, as with all that were shown (including an opening late disgorged blanc de blancs sparkling), were very compelling. They showed the range that Koshu can and does achieve, and that charm appears to be winning converts – slowly but surely – in export markets such as the UK.

With Japan’s wine industry having grown from around 200 wineries to 500 in just a couple of short decades, and with 80 of those producers in Yamanashi, exports are now also on the up, led by the likes of Grace, which sits in the Hallgarten portfolio.

“Now almost 40% [of our wine] goes abroad, to 18 countries,” said Misawa, confirming that others are increasing their exports too.

In export terms, collectively, challenges remain, including the thirst of the domestic market for Koshu and a lack of overseas recognition for Japan’s wine producing scene. As Misawa put it: “Everyone knows that China is making wine, but no-one knows that Japan is making wine; they always think of rice wine, sake, but not wine from grapes.”

Nonetheless, recognition is growing and the export-focused activities of KOJ and others in markets such as the UK are beginning to bear fruit. Koshu also now has its own UK ambassador in the shape of Luke Harbor, group beverage director across The Pig hotel group, which should help it on its way, with quality restaurants and indie merchants being the target channels.

A final, intriguing piece of information from Misawa was the revelation that small plots of Koshu have been planted by adventurous winemakers in places as diverse as Napa Valley, the Rheingau and southern France.

With global exports having fallen in recent years to sit at 50,000 bottles in 2023 (latest figs available, for KOJ), but with the UK remaining steady at around 13,500 bottles, it’s not quite world domination just yet. But given how well these styles of wine sit with modern cuisines and drinking trends, it appears that Koshu, from its lofty appellation some 100km distant from Tokyo, is on its way to becoming better known.

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