Last month, we wrote about Nobutaka Hirano and the support that he was providing to other small winemakers in Nagano with the making and marketing of their wines. We noted that Hirano had learned his craft locally, working at the Villa d'Est winery and the facilities at Arc en Vigne, an educational center for winemaking established by poet and winemaker Toyoo Tamamura.
July 2022 Wine Recommendations
It may be July, but at our home 800 meters high on the slopes of Mount Kurohime in Nagano you still need a jacket in the evening and appreciate a blanket at night. The story elsewhere in Japan is different. Tokyo reached a temperature of 37 degrees centigrade this past week and Yamanashi prefecture, which … Continue reading July 2022 Wine Recommendations
June 2022 Wine Recommendations
Jim's good friend and wine drinking partner, C.W. Nicol, passed away two years ago last April. Nic held a black belt in karate and worked briefly in the United Kingdom as a professional wrestler. He was a "bear" of a man, who seemed indestructible. And while he is now gone, his legacy, the Afan Forest Foundation and the 35 hectares of forest land that he brought back to life continues.
May 2022 Wine Recommendations
Spring has a AT LAST come to Nagano -- even so it has been among the wettest and coldest on record. Our Nagano home sits 800 meters above sea level and there are still traces of snow in the shadows and much more on the tops of the 2500 meter plus mountains that surround us. Nonetheless, we recently hosted a small tasting of Nagano wines at our hilltop gazebo for our neighbors and have another one scheduled for early June.
April 2022 Wine Recommendations
It is Spring on the calendar. but it is still winter in Nagano. We received close to three meters of snow this season -- the largest amount of snowfall in at least a decade. Yes, it was great for skiing -- but less than you might think since nearly daily snow storms made visibility difficult … Continue reading April 2022 Wine Recommendations
Wine Recommendations for February-March 2022
Mount Kurohime, Izuna and the Togakushi Ridge Line We have been living in Nagano for over ten years -- and 2022 is the snowiest winter in our memory. The accumulation on our mountainside property is well over two meters and we awake most mornings to the sound of the local snow plow clearing the 800 … Continue reading Wine Recommendations for February-March 2022
January 2022 Recommendations
Viniqrobe was opened by a older couple named Yasuhiro and Hiroko Kurata, who left Tokyo jobs in banking and the pharmaceutical industry in 2016 to make wines on two hectares of land in Takayama Village, one of the prime areas for viticulture in the Chikumagawa District. Their goal is to produce an excellent Japanese Pinot Noir, but they are also planting Merlot.
December 2021 Recommedations
The snow is already falling in our corner of Nagano and we are busy with preparation for the winter season. Our home is just 30 minutes outside of Nagano city, but we are located on the slopes of Mount Kurohime and caught between Mount Myoko and highlands of the Tokagushi and Shiga Kogen that serve to funnel the cold snowy weather from the Sea of Japan, which is just 30 kilometers to the northwest. The result is over three meters of snowfall each year and some of the best skiing in Japan (and for that matter Asia).
Friends of Nagano Wine 