Landscape under Pergola. Yamanashi, Japan

I have been bouncing on a narrow seat for half an hour already and I have been searching in vain for a space where to stretch my feet out. I see first veins of nature growing through the grey shapeless maze of low houses, pylons, water pipes, air conditioning units and telephone wires, which is unified and seemingly infinite everywhere around. Our bus is heading towards the inland through passes in steep hills covered by bamboo groves, drilled through by tens of tunnels resembling a Swiss cheese. Each year, autumn paints a beautiful image of golden-red shades of maples falling asleep on this evergreen canvas. It is splendid both seen from land and from airplane. It is a festive experience to see Japan like this... Today, however, I have much more things to see; I am heading to Yamanashi, the winemaking heart of this island country. Only few months ago I tasted Koshu for the first time and with distrust. It is a wine of a unique variety, old perhaps as the local winemaking itself. And in a while I will get acquainted with both Koshu and Yamanashi in great detail. This all thanks to the woman slumbering quietly on the seat on my right side – my student Kanako.

There was no time to catch up on lost sleep from the tiresome flight from Europe, nor to enjoy some time for acclimatization; she arranged a very early departure indeed. Not even a morning exercise was lacking – give woman a map and few tens of meters from the exit from metro to the bus stop will turn into a sightseeing tour in all directions through the center of Tokio, concluded by a quick run for the bus. Fortunately, you can really set your clocks according to Japanese carriers – with a great deal of luck and absolutely exhausted, we jumped on the steps of the bus just at the moment when the exact minute of its departure was ticking out. Thankfully, there was enough time for us to calm down our heartbeats. When the bus soft-pedaled at the metal sign of Katsunuma City, surprisingly away from any distinctive signs of civilization, my heartbeat went up again slightly. Grapevine everywhere you look... But this was no familiar sight. Extreme Japanese climatic conditions, especially high humidity, require supporting grapevine by pergolas. The surface on which you would normally fit 50 or more bushes planted in a dense row is often occupied by just one. Its stem has turned into a tree trunk in the course of years, its branches, which are spread wide like tentacles of a giant squid, give a huge yield of watery grapes, the quality of which you can easily doubt. Grapevine occupies every spare stretch of land, foliage often forms a holey roof of a car shed. One-floor metal houses, looking more like garages with facilities, boast signs like „winery“ and „chateau“. At first you will start laughing when seeing this, it is so different from your typical image of the landscape devoted to the divine beverage! However, during the visit of a first solid company, you will understand that the Japanese are very serious in making wine and their incredible diligence leads to surprising results.

Rubaiyat - Marufuji Winery, founded in 1890, was the first planned stop of our expedition. It has a unique position among the local wineries because of its history, expertise and successful contests results, although it seems like a sleepy countryside family farm. Forget shiny stainless steel, laboratories or air conditioned rooms. You will be touched by a homely atmosphere. Hospitality here is without any limits – you can pass through the whole space unaccompanied. The Japanese trusting in moral principles will let you, without any fear, explore local unguarded treasures: a production prepared to be dispatched, oak barrels and even a lane lined with bottles containing decades old wines. You can also walk back in time in the small museum. They have a cosy tasting room for groups here, individuals will get familiar with local wines at the bar counter and absolutely for free, as is common in Japan! We tasted the following (including the evaluation on the hundred-point scale):

83  Koshu 2008, Rubaiyat, Sur Lie, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

81  Koshu 2008, Rubaiyat, barrel aged, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

81  Muscat Bailley A 2008, Rubaiyat, barrel aged, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

76  Koshu 2009 Nouveau, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

Also several red wines of interesting quality were poured into our glasses, but their evaluation would not have been objective for the reason of a slight oxidation caused by earlier opening of the bottles. An interesting experience for me was tasting the wine from the Delaware variety, representative of American hybrids of fox grape (Vitis labrusca), dominating the island vineyards for long years because of its tenacity, today fortunately being pushed out by standard varieties of common grapevine. The typical smell of fox in this sweet beverage was really striking.

Another item of our day plan was the Mann´s winery, property of the concern of the producer of the worldwide soya sauce Kikkomann. Nevertheless, the local staff recommended us warmly to visit the nearby Grace winery as well. Later, the decision to follow their advice proved to be a very lucky one. But first we needed to satisfy our already rumbling stomachs. The situation with map, which we trained so well in Tokio, was repeated here with my ample contribution. After loosing our way in lanes between the vineyards, we enjoyed all the more our roastbeef in an unusual French-English restaurant, boasting a beautiful view of the surrounding steep hills. We were glad to take advantage of a voucher for taxi, given as a bonus of the pricey bill in the restaurant, so the journey to the representation building of the winery Grace overgrown with decorative grapevine passed quickly and without complications. In the cosy shop – degustation room, we were attended by a smiling young employee speaking perfect English (only three days ago he still worked in the rival Mercian winery) and he immediately poured first samples of the free degustation. My senses were awakened fast. This Koshu was classy even in the basic series! I didn't want to believe that such a magnificently mineral, fresh and clean wines, although still somewhat neutral in fruit aromas, are born on the pergolas. I was right. The winery uses a different system – the so-called long bilateral cordon. It is stretched in the height of your head on a similar wire construction as pergola and you can also mistake it for such at first glance. Two very long arms running from the trunk in the opposite directions expose the bush to higher loading by grapes than systems commonly used worldwide, however, compared to the local traditional four or more arms, the harvest volume is significantly reduced. The main advantage of pergola in Japanese conditions, that is protection against humidity, is preserved with this system as well. Variety of styles of Koshu, when comparing wines coming from individual vineyards, was surprising. I had a craving to learn more about this winery, even at the cost of canceling the visit of the Mann´s company. However, my request for visit of the winery was refused with the proverbial Japanese refinement (alternatively called an elegant lie) on the pretext of high workload of the staff and lack of previous appointment. So I started to explore other samples. Meanwhile, the room came alive with new guests and those, in turn, perked up because of the exotic presence of a white man scraping something zealously into degustation carnets. I don't know how it happened, but I found myself unknowingly on the list of guests of the official tour of the vineyards and operations. This was due to a quickly arranged pact between my guide and another smart lady.

We all squeezed ourselves into a shaky minibus and set out towards hills. A more than hour long lecture of the vineyard manager in Japanese was a trial for my patience. At least I had time to take interesting pictures of carefully maintained vineyards led in the relatively traditional manner – on wire. I was able to learn something after all thanks to the simultaneous translation of Kanako, but it was all the closely familiar mantra: biodynamics, manner of cut, minimum load of grapes on the bush, green works, sorting out berries on a conveyor belt... As if I had heard an echo of the shot from Aurora warship; words like „Bordeaux, maturity, good year, high sugar content...“. Nevertheless, there was no surprise in the second part of the degustation after we returned. Red wines, in spite of the high-quality work in the cellar and good equipment, lacked a deeper maturity, were full of green notes and its lightly-built body was dragging the heritage of the oak barrel only with great strain. I recalled our domestic red wines. Unfortunately, you cannot make up for natural conditions in the cellar... White wines were undoubtedly leading in the top of the quality scale of the company's production, with an unexpectedly powerful simple Koshu at the head of the peloton. We reached its higher situated vineyards soon by minivan. They provided us with a beautiful view of the landscape. The expedition continued in the operation spaces of the winery across the street opposite the company shop. Standard stainless steel equipment of mostly European origin, a cathedral of oak barrels, pumps, filters, no gravitation ergonomics. And carefully maintained cleanness – each of us was given smart plastic socks for our shoes. I was quite tired by the incomprehensible lecture and I was looking forward to enjoy the rest of the wines. Here are all of them:

90  Koshu 2007, Cuvée Misawa, Toriibira vineyard, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

86  Koshu 2008, Toriibira vineyard, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

85  Chardonnay 2008, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

85  Gris de Koshu 2008, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

84  Koshu 2008, Hishiyama vineyard, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

84  Koshu 2008, Kayagatake, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

84  Kerner 2008, Late Harvest, Hokkaido – Yoichi

82  Kerner 2006, Hokkaido – Yoichi

82  Koshu 2008, barrel aged, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

79  Koshu 2008, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

79  Grace Rouge 2008, Kayagatake, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

79  Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

75  Pinot Noir 2007, Hokkaido – Yoichi

73  Kai Noir 2008, Katsunuma – Yamanashi

An absolute silence was accompanying us on the abandoned small train station high in the hills above the vineyards, immersed in a freezing darkness, when we set for our journey to Tokio. Such Japan is the most extraordinary one. If I have ever really experienced it... The common valueless commodity of silence turned the ordinariness into memories, through which time passes more slowly. My heavy head overfilled by these memories was then repeatedly and uncontrollably falling onto my chest for the whole three hours of ride in train. See you again some day, Yamanashi!