Niigata’s Top-quality Wine to Go on Sale in December; Iwanohara Vineyard Co. Dedicated to Innovation, Quality

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:46 JST, December 3, 2024

JOETSU, Niigata — Iwanohara Vineyard Co., a wine making company in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, will on Dec. 7 begin sales of Zenbei 2022, a red wine produced only in years when the best-quality grapes are harvested.

Zenbei is the company’s top product and named after its founder. This will be the sixth time that the namesake wine has been released and the first time in eight years.

The wine was created from a blend of three grape varieties harvested in 2022 at the company’s farm. By grape variety, Muscat Bailey A accounted for 71%, followed by Black Queen at 23% and Bailey Alicante A at 6%.

The high temperatures and low rainfall levels in June 2022 resulted in small-grained, concentrated Muscat Bailey A grapes, according to the firm. The Black Queen grapes were protected with a rain cover for the first time as a disease prevention measure, and the harvest period was extended to early October to allow the grapes to fully ripen.

The wine was aged in casks for one year and three months. The rich aroma of the grapes and the cask lingers in the mouth for several minutes after the wine has been sipped, allowing people to enjoy its lingering aftertaste.

The company was founded by Zenbei Kawakami (1868-1944), who is known as the father of wine grapes in Japan. “Inheriting Zenbei’s spirit of taking on challenges, we’d like to keep producing delicious wine by continuing to make technological innovations and improving the quality of the product,” said Masayoshi Endo, the company’s president.

The 720-milliliter bottle will be priced at ¥16,500, including tax. Only 3,600 bottles will be available, sold on the company’s online store and elsewhere.