Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France

Torys Bar (Osaka, Japan)

The Lane to the Torys BarOasaka, Joso district.
You may notice the small sign in the middle of this picture reading "Juso Torys Suntory". This lane is located in the Juso red-light district in Osaka. Here is the sole survivor of a long bygone era, when Suntory whisky bars, named torys bars could be found all over Japan. Of the hundreds of Torys bars that dotted most of Japan in the 50s' and 60s', you'll find today only one remaining : the Torys bar of Juso, Osaka ...
Let's have a look at this recent Suntory history : As we know, Shinjiro Torii, Suntory's founder was at the same time a passionate whisky lover and a smart entrepreneur. After the war, as whisky was getting trendier in Japan, he wanted to speed the access of ordinary Japanese (especially of the hard-working salarymen) to his whiskies and decided to open countless bars, named "Torys bars" where (mostly) men could have an after-work relaxing time drinking whisky. The first of these bars were opened in 1955 in Osaka and Tokyo and were to become a staple of post-war Japan. How many wives have patiently waited for their husband to come home while he was sipping glass after glass in a crowded Torys bar with his work mates... To give you an idea of the success of these whisky bars in Japan, consider the figures : 1500 such Torys bars were established in the 50s' and early 60s'... Many Suntory commercials were shot to promote the trendy drink since that era, like this one. This other one seems to show the flushing effect of whisky, even the house glows at the end (and the gender roles...the wife serves and the husband gulps)...This one features Coppola and Kurosawa enjoying Suntory whisky during the shooting of Kagemusha, 2 generations of Copollas seem to have had a crush for Suntory whiskies...Listen to the amplified sound of the ice cubes knocking together in the commercial. Uncle Torys, the character created by Ryohei Yamagihara for the Suntory whiskies commercials in the 1950s' was an icon of postwar Japan. After years working with Suntory, Ryohei Yamagihara brought his talent to the Mitsui OSK Lines, a Japanese cruise-ships and freight-ships company. A Ryohei Yamagihara Museum is devoted to his artistic work there.

Yamazaki Whisky (Oyamazaki, Japan)

The Suntory Yamazaki Whisky DistilleryOyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture (Japan)
Call me a snob, but I became a fan of Japanese whisky, and it all began with a single bottle of Suntory Yamazaki that I sipped in paris...
Hidden at the foot of green hills flush with spring water and under the protective quietness of the Tennozan mountain, here is the Suntory Yamazaki distillery. Located just a stone throw from the railroad tracks linking Kyoto and Osaka, it sits roughly inbetween the two towns. Just a few years ago I wouldn't have guessed that Japan was a whisky-producing country, even less that it was the second biggest producer. That was only when B. offered me a bottle of Suntory Yamazaki 12 Years Single Malt Whisky that she had received at her job that I became aware of this little-publicized reality. As an occasional whisky amateur I try to appreciate the differences between the different brands I come accross, and I liked the smooth qualities of this one. If you are among the people who watched (and liked) Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, another Suntoty whisky had a nice role there in the hands of Bill Murray, Suntory Hibiki 17 years 43°, but I didn't pay attention at the time, like most viewers.
So here we are, in the first Japanese whisky distillery, and it was founded long before the end of WW2 and the ensuing American influence. Shinjiro Torii, born to an Osaka money-changer in 1879, was to become the founder of Suntory Ltd. (the Japanese alcohol beverage giant). In 1899, he started his own wine wholesaling business in Osaka and imported wine from Spain. A Japanese entrepreneur's story : In 1923 he pursued another dream and built Japan's first Malt Whisky distillery, with someone named Masataka Taketsuru as distillery manager. The young Masataka had just spend time in Scottish distilleries to learn the Art of whisky making. Just for the anecdote, after putting Yamazaki on the rails during 10 years, he left for Hokkaido where he founded his own whisky distillery, Nikka Whisky Co. Two exceptionnal men, two exceptionnal products... Back to Shinjiro Torii : He selected this Oyamazaki spot, a valley where the Katsura, Kizu and Uji rivers merge and where fog lingers almost year around. The location was accessible and the water was abundant and perfectly fit to make a great whisky.

Tokyo Wine Bars : Yol

Natsuko Kato, Chief Sommelier at YolRoppongi, Tokyo
Tokyo is a city where what you see from the street is only a tiny portion of the real city, this is the visible part of the iceberg, even if a nice piece of iceberg... Hidden to the unsuspecting visitor, thousands of bars and restaurants are spread out in the city out of the public eye, in the high rises or in the basements. Roppongi is one of these neighborhoods with a high concentration of bars and night spots. Just think that this neighborhood has something like 30 wine bars...It is often considered as the expat district of choice in Tokyo, but the bar scene is so diverse there that you will easily find (in the immerged-part of the iceberg) authentic venues catering to the Japanese clientèle. The Yol Salon Bar is one of these place, this wine bar opened last year with a mostly Japanese clientèle and an impressive wine list in the brand-new Midtown complex in Roppongi.
A few more things abour Roppongi : it is a hilly part of Tokyo, and while you can reach it by subway, it can also be reached by a pleasant walk from Omotesando. We did it once by an incredibly beautiful evening : It was cold, the snow was falling silently all over the city and the streets were nearly empty, but we had this beautiful view on the Oyama cemetery as we crossed it before climbing the stairs to reach Roppongi, Omotesando is on the left of the Cemetery and Roppongi on the right [aerial view of the street through the cemetery]. The oyama cemetery is one of the most beautiful place in Tokyo to enjoy a cherry blossom viewing party. the cemetery is hilly, with lots of trees and reminds me the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. By the way if you navigate to the left of the aerial picture and enlarge it, you have a nice view of the famous glass-and-steel Prada building in Omotesando (the small square with a red patch inside it). The quality of the aerial pic is excellent and you could almost see the bags through the glass structure when you enlarge at the max... You can also see the Midtown complex on the right of the cemetery but there was still lots of landscaping work around it when the pic was shot.

L'orient Winery (Yamanashi, Japan)

The Vatroom at the Shirayuri "L'Orient" WineryKatsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture (Japan)
Uchida-San is a warmful person who is passionated by his winery and this visit was a delight. His winery sits in the middle of the Katsunuma vineyards, with a large parking lot on the side to receive the 20 000 visitors a year who make a stop at his tasting bar and shop. The winery was founded in 1939 by Mr Uchida's grandfather. He and his wife are running this winery where a wide range of wines, both red and white, and spirits are produced.
We will have seen and been explained many things during this visit and I hope I didn't leave some precious info aside, because I didn't take notes all the time. One of the first thing that we visit is precisely the distillery, where they make a 40° Brandy Grappa. We didn't taste it but this leaves room for another visit. The new alambic is made in Italy by Cadalpe, it is a brand new (2 years old) shining distillery with tubes and pipes all over. Mr Uchida shows us the old Japanese distiller [pic on left - click to enlarge] : a square thick-wood container sitting on a boiler (makes me think to the rice steaming process in a sake brewery), with what looks like a copper pipe-exit at the top. You can see on the picture Mr Uchida holding the condensation coils that were used with this distiller. Mr Uchida is an expert in the field and he cooperated with this study [Pdf].

Katsunuma Winery (Yamanashi, Japan)

Shigeyuki Hirayama, the enologist at KatsunumaKatsunuma, Yamanashi prefecture (Japan)
The Katsunuma winery is a 3-generation-old winery and was founded in 1937. Also known under the name of Aruga Branca, it is owned by Mr Yuji Aruga and makes wine from a 5,5-hectare fully-owned vineyard, plus from 15 hectares of contracted vineyards, and from the additional 10 hectares of cooperative production. Total production is 300 000 bottles. 70% of the harvested grapes at the Katsunuma winery are the famed Koshu grapes, the indigenous Japanese white variety.
This is not the reason why we went to this winery for a visit, but it is interesting to note that several of Katsunuma winery's wines were selected by Japan Airlines for its in-flight first-class service. As an additional sign that more Japanese wines have been reaching a new level of quality on these recent years, a wine buyer in a world-class airline considered several of them could be served routinely to its top-tier clients. For the information, JAL selected 3 Koshu wines, Arega Branca Clareza 2005, Aruga Branca Issehara 2006 and Aruga Branca Pipa 2003.
The winery and its vineyard lies in a mountainous region with the Chichibu mountains [picture on the left] on one side and the southern Alps, and the Fuji Hakone Izu on another. These mountains sort of bring some cool air and, I guess, stop some of the rain before it reaches the area.

Chateau Lumière (Yamanashi, Japan)

The Facility at Chateau Lumière : a Real Winery Katsunuma, Yamanashi prefecture (Japan).
We're deeply impressed by this visit. For our first winery visit in the Yamanashi wine region south of Tokyo, we have come across wines that have nothing to fear from being tasted side to side with recognized international wines. This winery has a long existence already, and has reached international recognition under the guidance of Mrs Reiko Tsukamoto.
But let's remind the very beginning of Japan's wine : this is the year 1878, and the first years of the Meiji era, when Japan was opening itself to Western ideas and techniques, and some people in the town of Katsunuma, a city sitting on the foothills of snow-capped mountains [pic on right], were thinking of introducing wine here. 2 young men named Seisho Takano and Ryuken Tsuchiya were sent to Beaune, France, to study everything about vineyard farming and winemaking. After two years they were back home and started a winery in Katsunuma, the Dainihon Yamanashi Winery.
Chateau Lumiere was also founded in Katsunuma during these early years, in 1885 to be precise, but under the name of Koshu-en winery at the time. Its founder, Tokuyoshi Furuya, is the grand-grandfather of the present owner, Toshihiko Tsukamoto, making of this winery maybe the oldest family winery in Japan. After WW2, Toshihiko Tsukamoto studied at the University of California and in the mid-1960s' he decided to rebuild the Koshu-en winery, giving it the new name of Chateau Lumiere.

Wine News (15)

Japan Trains : Technology and Art de VivreIts always a pleasue to travel on the Japanese train system. Of course there is the technology, the speed of some of these trains, but what is really amazing in Japan I think, is the service. For someone used to the self-centered union culture of the French SNCF, it's another galaxy here, like the attentive train staff being on the platform checking that everything goes fine and jumping to respond to any enquiring passenger, or the ticket controller bowing at each end of the passager cars before-and-after checking the tickets. But like for many things Japanese, an authentic art-de-vivre keeps living side by side with the high work-ethic and the technology : the ritual of eki-bento lunch boxes that people take out during their train trips has no equivalent I know in Western Europe, and it seems closer to what I saw in Russia, where families and friends enjoy this sense of excitement and togetherness on trains with picnics. Specialized shops in train stations sell all sort of eki-bento boxes, with, of course, the sake that will make you meal taste even better. Since the Ozeki sake brewery invented the single-serve size labelled "One Cup" in the 1960s', drinking sake while on the move has been easier. This "drink and run" culture is not limited to the salarymen universe anymore but melted into the mainstream. I loved what an expat wrote humourously somewhere about these single-serve sake cups : "You know you've lost your soul when you sit on the train sipping one of those babies." Well, it may be true that you don't always have the best quality of sake in this format but this particular one made a very pleasant drink with the sushi lunch box, believe me...

Daishichi Sake Brewery (Nihonmatsu)

A Vatroom at Daishichi. Working on a Daiginjo VatDaishichi brewery, Nihonmatsu (Fikushima Prefecture, Japan).
The Daishichi brewery is owned by the same family since 1752. It is now the 10th generation since the Ohta family settled down in this region. It is rare to have a traceable continuity over such a long period. Emperor Showa (better known in the West as Hirohito) became Emperor in 1926, and when he was officially enthroned in Kyoto in 1928, the Daishichi sake was the one that was served in this ceremonial event.
It is a middle-size sake Japanese brewery and it is considered as making sakes of very good quality. From the outside, its facilities are very modern as they have been rebuilt when the nearby street was enlarged, but this brewery combines very modern techniques and machinery with traditional methods. Mr Ohta, the president of Daishichi, received us in person at the beginning of our visit and explained how he felt the duty to maintain unique traditions as well as innovate. He told us how he was impressed when he visited the Domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy : He was amazed to see how simple and traditional the facility and the tools were at Romanée Conti. This was a shock and it strengthened his willingness to keep alive the traditional ways at Daishichi.

Rice and Sake

Two Grades of Rice MillingHimonoya brewery, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Pref. Japan.
Let's have a look at the other main ingredient of sake making, the rice. Different types of rices are used for sake, we'll not look into the details here. You can read what John Gautner's says on sake-world about the rice varieties used for sake brewing, a very interesting page.
The Himonoya brewery performs itself all the tasks needed to produce sake, including the preparation, or milling, of the rice. In a separate building on the other side of the street in Nihonmatsu, a middle-aged man handles this delicate stage. To be able to ferment properly, the rice must be stripped from its outer shell, and this is done by a mill. In the past is was done manually by stepping on the rice and the kernel were often cracked and damaged, with negative results for the fermentation and the sake. Relatively-modern technology helped here, and the milling machines can mill softly large volumes of rice with the right percentage of outer shell removed.

Water and Sake

Spring Water on the Hills near Nara, Kansai (april 2002)Himonoya Sake Brewery, Nihonmatsu (Fukushima Prefecture, Japan).
These two different-looking water scenes have something in common : the temple near which the picture above was shot, and the sake brewery where the pic on right was shot, were both founded in a similarly pure surrounding where the water was reverred for its pristine quality. Don't focus on the aging concrete of the Himonoya sake brewery, this water on the right is one of their most valuable asset, the other being their human expertise.
I think that the Japanese have a deep-rooted love affair with pure water and untouched nature, something that predates the fashionable eco-conscience of our modern times. It translates for example into their modern embracing of costly offshore installations to pump deep-sea water (from sea-bed springs or plain sea water) and sell bottles of it to demanding consumers. This longing for purity and holyness may explain why many of these temples and sake breweries were built in beautiful mountainous settings with abundant spring water of pristine quality. Call it intuition or empirical experience, sake brewers quickly understood that there was something in the water that was a decisive factor behind a good (or a bad) sake. This was long before mineral analysis and scientific research, but the taste of the resulting sake guided the early sake-brewery founders, and by our modern scientific standards, they had a very good taste : The best sake producing regions and towns sit on water beds and springs that have been proved to fit exactly what the fragile quality of a good sake needs : Some hidden mineral factors are decisive for a good sake, and elements like potassium, magnesium, phosphoric acid, iron or manganese can help make the best sake or result in barely drinkable booze.