When not skiing (or playing golf), we have been contributing monthly to the friendsofnaganowine.com blog for four years! Our first piece was uploaded on January 31, 2019. And over this period a lot has changed in Japan and the world. We won't go down the rabbit hole to document and evidence this point. But we will note that our first blog focused on a tasting and interview with the owner of one of Japan's major independent wineries, Shigeyuki Kusunoki of the Kusunoki Winery. And coincidence or not, we will be attending in February a tasting hosted by Mr. Kusunoki of his new wines in Tokyo.
Tag: #naganowine
August 2022 Wine Recommendations
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 2021 Recommendations
Yorozuya, our favorite wine shop, has surprised us again with wines from smaller wineries that underscore the continuing growth, diversity, and vitality of the wine industry in Nagano. Reflecting this, we will also be providing links to two new online shop sites that were recently launched in the prefecture and feature Nagano wines exclusively, providing a platform for smaller wine makers to reach out to a broader slice of the wine-drinking market and to serve as an entry portal for, particularly, young people in Japan who are increasingly interested in visiting Nagano and other wine destinations in Japan to taste the local product. This is an important demographic shift from an older generation that enjoys wine but sees it as a “foreign” (French, Australian, American) product.
April 2021 Recommendations
This month we are continuing what we did in March and going back to check the recent offerings from wineries that we have liked in the past. The wineries we selected are the Obuse Winery run by the iconoclastic Akihito Soga and the Chateau Mercian Mariko Vineyard, which is operated by the Kirin Brewery Corporation.
January / February 2021 Recommendations
We welcomed the New Year in Nagano with more than abundant snow. Quite a contrast to the previous year when the weather was generally warm and any precipitation usually took the form of rain. Needless to say, the pandemic has been a dark cloud on most everything – except our favorite pastime, which is to sit in front of our wood-burning stove holding a glass of wine with our young German Shepherd sleeping comfortably by our side.
December 2020 Recommendations
It is snowing in the mountains of Nagano as we write this – and the ski season promises to be the best in a decade. There is already nearly half a meter of snow on the ground and another half meter is expected overnight. After a long day on the slopes, there is nothing better than sitting by a wood stove and trying out some new wines.
November 2020 Recommendations
This month we are featuring wines from two boutique wineries: Funky Chateau (we still love that name!) and Coteau des Chevrettes (yes, there are goats that help out at the winery to keep the weeds away from the vines).
Friends of Nagano Wine 