September 15, 2014

Echigo Winery/越後ワイナリー

Yesterday (September 14), I went to the 13th "Grape Harvest Festival and Wine Festival" alone, by train (hoping to get some free samples of wine).
昨日(9/14)は、第13回「ぶどう収穫祭とワイン祭り」に一人で、電車で(ワインの試飲を少しできるのではないかと期待して)行って来ました。
 
My family used to go to this festival when the children were smaller. Now that they have grown older, I didn't bother to ask them whether they would like to go.
子供たちが小さい頃は、このお祭りに行っていたのですが、子供たちも大きくなったので、わざわざ行きたいかどうかききませんでした。

Besides, I had an important mission: looking closely at the vineyard to see how they grow their grapes. I recently read this book:
それに私には重要な任務がありました。ぶどう園をよく見てどんなふうに葡萄(ぶどう、ブドウ)を育てているのか知る、ということです。最近、この本を読みました:
This book, "Men who challenged for wine in the Snow County", is all about this particular winery, and I found it very interesting, mainly because I was thinking of good alternative ways to grow grapes. In Japan, grapes are usually grown in an overhead trellis (arbor) system, but in the vineyard of this winery, they grow their grapes in a "kakine" (lit. hedge), or vertical trellis system because of the heavy snowfall in winter. What is more interesting is that they adopt a unique "rain cut" system to protect the grapes from rain, particularly in the rainy season (tsuyu in Japanese). 
「雪国でワインに挑んだ男たち」というこの本は、このワイナリーに関する本で、私はとても面白いと思いました。ぶどうを育てる別の方法を考えていたからです。日本では、ぶどうは通常、棚方式で育てられます。しかし、このワイナリーでは、冬の豪雪のため、ぶどうを垣根方式で育てています。さらに興味深いのは、ぶどうを(特に梅雨の時期に)雨から守るため、ユニークな「レインカット」方式を採用していることです。

I arrived at Urasa Station on JR Joetsu Line. The winery is located inside the vast park called Yairo no Mori Koen, which is about an 8-minute walk from the station.
JR上越線の浦佐駅に着きました。ワイナリーは、駅から徒歩8分程度の「八色の森公園」という公園内にあります。 
Cross over the Uono River,
魚野川を渡り、

and enjoy the artistic manhole cover.
芸術的なマンホールを蓋を楽しんでください。
One watermelon is drawn on the cover, because this area is famous for its watermelon, called Yairo Suika.
蓋にはスイカが一つ描かれています。八色スイカというスイカで有名な地域だからです。

I had purchased two advance tickets for the Echigo Wine Set online. One ticket entitles you to pick one bunch of Fujiminori grapes, two bottles of wine, and participation in one of the two draws held on that day.
私は越後ワインセットの前売り券を2枚、オンラインで購入してありました。券1枚で、藤稔(ふじみのり)を一房(ひとふさ)を収穫でき、ワインを2本もらえ、さらに、その日に行われる2回の抽選会のいずれかに参加できます。

I headed for the vineyard.
ぶどう園に行きました。  

These are Fujiminori grapes.
これが藤稔です。
This particular variety is touted as being more delicious than Kyoho, which is called the King of Grapes in Japan. Unlike the other varieties for wine making, this variety is carefully protected in bags. And, as you can see, in the "rain cut" system, the grapes are protected from rain with plastic sheets above.
この品種は、日本ではぶどうの王様を言われる巨峰(きょほう)より美味しいと言われています。ワインづくり用の他のぶどうの品種と異なり、丁寧に袋で守られています。 また見てわかる通り、「レインカット」方式では、ぶどうは上にあるビニールシートで雨から守られています。

Another variety, used for wine making
ワインづくりに使われる別の品種

This is the winery building.
ワイナリーの建物です。
Inside:
内部:



In the basement, they have what they call yuki himuro (lit. snow ice room), where as much as 250 tons of snow are stored to keep the wine storage room at around 5C.
地下には、雪氷室があります。ここには250トンもの雪が溜められ、ワイン貯蔵庫を約5Cに保っています。


Restaurant, "Budo no Hana" (lit. Grape Blossoms)
レストラン「葡萄の花」
Inside:
内部:
Farmers' market:
野菜直売所:


Dried zenmai:
干しぜんまい:
Time for the draw!
抽選会の時間です!
The one in a pink T-shirt is the mayor of Minami Uonuma city.
ピンクのTシャツを着た人が南魚沼市の市長です。
Sadly, no presents for me...
残念ながら、私には景品は当たりませんでした。

This is the bunch of Fujiminori grapes I picked.
これが私が採った藤稔です。
Sweet and tasty!
甘くて美味しかったです!

And, these are the wines I got.
そして、これがもらったワインです。
Shown on the left is a dry red wine, and the right one is sparkling wine with ume (Japanese plum) juice! Can't wait to try them!
左のは辛口(からくち)の赤ワインで、右のは、梅果汁が入ったスパークリングワインです!飲むのが待ち遠しいです!

12 comments:

  1. I wonder if you will like the wine. Last year I tasted some Japanese wines (in a regional shop of a region which specialises in wines apparently...). My friend's father who is a big wine amateur told me it was a waste of time because for him Japanese wines are not good... For me it was a very interesting experience! The wines I tasted were good, but... they didn't really taste like wine, but some other kind of alcohol ;-) (Though they were made of grapes of course).
    I'm sure that in the future Japanese wines will be fantastic! It's not so easy to produce good wines.

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  2. Sissi: I think I'll like the wines. I've had several brands of this particular winery before, and I found them good enough for me. For the record, I don't have much knowledge about wine, and I only have a few words to describe wine, like good, bad, dry, and sweet.

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  3. I meant they were not like European wines... (I'm sure that's why my friend's father said he didn't like Japanese wines), but they were good in the objective sense of the word. I'd drink them as an aperitif happily (though they were not cheap at all...).
    Anyway, since Japanese producers excel in everything they undertake, I'm sure it's just a question of time Japanese wines are worldwide known and appreciated (like whisky!).
    I would be also very interested to visit a Japanese vineyard!

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  4. Sissi: Some wines like Koshu wines have already gained worldwide reputation:
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2011/06/10/food/koshu-wine-gets-uncorked-abroad/#.VCKvJ7kcQdc

    Winemaking in Japan dates back to the beginning of the Meiji period. It started here in Niigata, if you are interested:
    http://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/soshiki/kyousei/english-zenbei.html

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  5. Thank you for the link, Hiroyuki! Fascinating!
    And this time I'll loook for Koshu wine! (the one I tasted weren't from there... I was so discouraged by my friend's father, I didn't look at other regions...).

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  6. Oops...So koshu is a varietal ;-) I might have tasted it... I don't remember... but it wasn't from a Mount Fuji vineyard (this I would remember).
    If I understand they still have problems... with low sugar content, so low alcoholic degree...

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  7. Sissi: I think that the Japanese will eventually develop wine in their own way, to suit the palate of the Japanese and suit Japanese cuisine.

    I don't think that wines that go well with French cuisine will go well with Japanese cuisine and vice versa.

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  8. Low alcoholic degree is not their choice, but problem.
    I agree about suiting local taste (though most wine lovers in Japan like foreign wines... so it's tricky), but wine should be first of all delicious on its own (even though every country is proud of its wine particularities). Many people (me including) drink excellent wine often without any meal because it's often a pity to hide its flavours... and even the best paired food does it.
    I have to disagree with the second point. I have experimented and also talked to wine experts (which of course I'm not) and there are many French (and German for example) wines that go perfectly well with Japanese cuisine. It's also the case for other cuisines: the best hot Indian curry meal I had was with an Australian riesling... Perfect pairing.
    Even sashimi and sushi can be well paired with European wines! (In France many sommeliers talk and write about it quite often).
    This is the marvellous, mysterious side of wine... One keeps on learning and being surprised all one's life...

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  9. Sissi: I see your point, but I, for one, see wine in quite a different way, so do many Japanese.

    I will make a post titled, "Wine in Japan" or something like that when I have the time.

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  10. I was searching for some info on how to protect grapes from rain here in Kerala, India and came across your blog and a photo of fujimori grapes covered by PVC sheets. I liked your blog with wine making process and all. I make Ginger wine sometimes. I like cooking as well and have a blog on it blogsownkitchen.blogspot.com

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  11. seeandoh: Thanks for your comment.

    The "rain cut" system, which you referred to, is an invention of Manns Wines, a large winemaker in Japan, and Echigo Winery adopted it.

    As I mentioned briefly in the post, another option to protect grapes from rain is an overhead trellis system with a roof above. My father adopts this system.

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  12. Thank you Hiroyuki for your feedback. I already have a Trellis for my Grape Vine. So I will add a PVC sheet to protect it from the rain. The Monsoon rain is Kerala is very strong and lasts for 2 months...!!

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