The best wines of Japan

Discover the best wines of Japan as well as the best winemakers of Japan and estates of Japan to visit. Explore the popular grape varieties of Japan and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Top wines by regions >Japan

Top wines of Japan by region

Looking for a good wine of Japan among the top wines in the region? Check out our tops of the best red, white or effervescent wines of Japan. Also find some food and wine pairings that may be appropriate with these exceptional wines. Learn more about the region and the wines of Japan with technical and enological descriptions.

Great red wines of Japan

See the top 100 best red wines of Japan

Want to buy a red wine of Japan cheap or sell a red wine of Japan at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a red wine of Japan

Red wines from the region of Japan go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, game (deer, venison) or lamb such as recipes of oxtail confit in red wine, pheasant casserole with cabbage or lamb sweetbreads with white wine and sorrel cream.

Organoleptic analysis of red wine of Japan

On the nose the red wine of the region of Japan. often reveals types of flavors of strawberries, plum or raspberry and sometimes also flavors of red cherry, non oak or earth.

The best vintages in red wine of Japan

  • 1985With an average score of 4.60/5
  • 1993With an average score of 4.40/5
  • 2018With an average score of 3.92/5
  • 2010With an average score of 3.92/5
  • 2017With an average score of 3.91/5
  • 2015With an average score of 3.90/5

The most used grape varieties in red wine of Japan

  • Merlot
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Pinot Noir
  • Cabernet Franc
  • Zweigelt
  • Petit Verdot

The best wineries and winemakers for red wine of Japan

A wine route planned in the region of Japan? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best red wine of Japan.

Discovering the wine region of Japan

Japan is famous for its sake, a rice wine, but Grape wine has been made in Japan for hundreds of years or more. Beer and whisky have also gained a place in the consciousness of modern Japanese, and have even become important contributors to the national economy. Winemaking has a Long history in Japan, and there are several stories surrounding its origins. The most common is that in 718 AD, a Buddhist monk named Gyoki planted the first vineyards at Daizenji Temple, near Katsunuma (southwest of Tokyo).

Traditionally, the vast majority of grapes in Japan were grown only for eating, and little or no wine was produced. European wine was imported for the Japanese elite for much of the 16th century, but was banned for much of the 17th and 18th centuries under the Sakoku policy of Imperial isolationism. But things have changed rapidly in recent decades. In the 1970s, Japanese interest in the West (and tourism) increased sharply.

Naturally, many Western fashions and traditions made their way into Japan, especially in the areas of food and drink. Wine consumption exploded and, although the focus was on imported wines, domestic wine production naturally increased accordingly. Today, Japanese viticulture has yet to take hold in the world, as the majority of the country's grapes are grown for the table rather than for the bottle. There are only a handful of grape varieties used for Japanese wine making, the most notable of which are the "native" Koshu, the European Muscat of Alexandria and the Japanese Hybrid Muscat Bailey A.

Great white wines of Japan

See the top 100 best white wines of Japan

Want to buy a white wine of Japan cheap or sell a white wine of Japan at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a white wine of Japan

White wines from the region of Japan go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or vegetarian such as recipes of special' tagliatelle carbonara, salmon and avocado chirashi or tuna, pepper and tomato quiche.

Organoleptic analysis of white wine of Japan

On the nose the white wine of the region of Japan. often reveals types of flavors of grapefruit, citrus fruit or tropical fruit and sometimes also flavors of non oak, white peach or pear. In the mouth the white wine of the region of Japan. is a .

The best vintages in white wine of Japan

  • 1998With an average score of 4.40/5
  • 2007With an average score of 4.00/5
  • 2020With an average score of 3.92/5
  • 2014With an average score of 3.82/5
  • 2015With an average score of 3.77/5
  • 2009With an average score of 3.76/5

The most used grape varieties in white wine of Japan

  • Chardonnay
  • Koshu
  • Kerner
  • Niagara
  • Bacchus
  • Chenin Blanc

The best wineries and winemakers for white wine of Japan

A wine route planned in the region of Japan? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best white wine of Japan.

Discover the grape variety: Cabernet franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the oldest red grape varieties in Bordeaux. The Libourne region is its terroir where it develops best. The terroirs of Saint-Emilion and Fronsac allow it to mature and develop its best range of aromas. It is also the majority in many blends. The very famous Château Cheval Blanc, for example, uses 60% Cabernet Franc. The wines produced with Cabernet Franc are medium in colour with fine tannins and subtle aromas of small red fruits and spices. When blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it brings complexity and a bouquet of aromas to the wine. It produces fruity wines that can be drunk quite quickly, but whose great vintages can be kept for a long time. It is an earlier grape variety than Cabernet Sauvignon, which means that it is planted as far north as the Loire Valley. In Anjou, it is also used to make sweet rosé wines. Cabernet Franc is now used in some twenty countries in Europe and throughout the world.

Great sparkling wines of Japan

See the top 100 best sparkling wines of Japan

Want to buy a sparkling wine of Japan cheap or sell a sparkling wine of Japan at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a sparkling wine of Japan

Sparkling wines from the region of Japan go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or vegetarian such as recipes of turkey roulades, flavoured sauce, skate wings with black butter sauce or quiche without pastry.

Organoleptic analysis of sparkling wine of Japan

On the nose the sparkling wine of the region of Japan. often reveals types of flavors of microbio, tree fruit or citrus fruit and sometimes also flavors of earth, vegetal or non oak.

The best vintages in sparkling wine of Japan

  • 2011With an average score of 3.94/5
  • 2012With an average score of 3.84/5
  • 2013With an average score of 3.84/5
  • 2020With an average score of 3.71/5
  • 2014With an average score of 3.63/5
  • 2006With an average score of 3.60/5

The most used grape varieties in sparkling wine of Japan

  • Koshu
  • Delaware
  • Chardonnay
  • Muscat Blanc
  • Kerner
  • Niagara

The best wineries and winemakers for sparkling wine of Japan

A wine route planned in the region of Japan? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best sparkling wine of Japan.

The word of the wine: Decommissioning

Removal of the right to the appellation of origin of a wine; it is then marketed as Vin de France.

Great pink wines of Japan

See the top 100 best pink wines of Japan

Want to buy a pink wine of Japan cheap or sell a pink wine of Japan at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a pink wine of Japan

Pink wines from the region of Japan go well with generally quite well with dishes of beef, lamb or game (deer, venison) such as recipes of sweet and sour turkish dumpling soup (eksili köfte), leg of lamb in a casserole or blanquette of rabbit with riesling and chanterelles.

Organoleptic analysis of pink wine of Japan

On the nose the pink wine of the region of Japan. often reveals types of flavors of earth, tree fruit or red fruit and sometimes also flavors of floral, citrus fruit.

The best vintages in pink wine of Japan

  • 2015With an average score of 3.69/5
  • 2019With an average score of 3.53/5
  • 2016With an average score of 3.51/5
  • 2018With an average score of 3.47/5
  • 2017With an average score of 3.41/5
  • 2013With an average score of 3.40/5

The most used grape varieties in pink wine of Japan

  • Muscat Bailey A
  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Merlot
  • Delaware
  • Alicante Bouschet
  • Cabernet Franc

The best wineries and winemakers for pink wine of Japan

A wine route planned in the region of Japan? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best pink wine of Japan.

Discover the grape variety: Riesling

White Riesling is a grape variety that originated in France (Alsace). It produces a variety of grape specially used for the elaboration of wine. It is rare to find this grape to eat on our tables. This variety of grape is characterized by small bunches, and small grapes. White Riesling can be found in many vineyards: Alsace, Loire Valley, Languedoc & Roussillon, Lorraine, Provence & Corsica, Rhone Valley, Savoie & Bugey, Beaujolais, South West.

Great sweet wines of Japan

See the top 100 best sweet wines of Japan

Want to buy a sweet wine of Japan cheap or sell a sweet wine of Japan at the best price on the market? Find out which ones are popular and which ones to keep in your cellar for a few more years.

Food and wine pairing with a sweet wine of Japan

Sweet wines from the region of Japan go well with generally quite well with dishes of pork, rich fish (salmon, tuna etc) or vegetarian such as recipes of fricadella, skate wing with caper butter or tuna, pepper and tomato quiche.

Organoleptic analysis of sweet wine of Japan

On the nose the sweet wine of the region of Japan. often reveals types of flavors of earth, oak or tree fruit and sometimes also flavors of dried fruit, non oak or microbio.

The best vintages in sweet wine of Japan

  • 2020With an average score of 4.30/5
  • 2019With an average score of 4.30/5
  • 2017With an average score of 4.13/5
  • 2018With an average score of 4.01/5
  • 2016With an average score of 3.87/5
  • 2013With an average score of 3.80/5

The most used grape varieties in sweet wine of Japan

  • Niagara
  • Merlot
  • Chardonnay
  • Riesling
  • Concord
  • Cabernet Sauvignon

The best wineries and winemakers for sweet wine of Japan

A wine route planned in the region of Japan? Here are the wineries to visit and the winemakers to meet during your trip in search of the best sweet wine of Japan.

The word of the wine: Dame-jeanne

Large bottle or wicker-clad carboy used to transport wine and store old spirits before blending.

News from the vineyard of Japan

Platinum: The 97 point wines of DWWA 2022

The largest-ever year for entries, an incredible 18,244 wines were judged at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – with just 163 wines awarded a Platinum medal. ‘Winning a Platinum medal is something really exceptional’ said Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘Platinum is like the stratospheric level’ she commented, ‘so it’s really saying to the winemaker: this is a great wine.’ Making up just 0.87% of the total wines tasted at the 2022 c ...

DWWA 2022: Sneak preview of styles to look out for

With more than 18,200 wines tasted by our expert judging panels and entrants spanning 56 countries, the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2022 edition promises to deliver an eclectic mix of brilliant bottles to seek out – across a broad range of prices.  Official results for DWWA 2022, including the winners of coveted Platinum and Best in Show medals, won’t be published until 7th of June. However, here are just a few of the styles to watch out for, based on a selection of personal highligh ...

Long Read: Wine had a past with sailboats. Does it have a future too?

In 2007, Frenchman Frédéric Albert founded the Compagnie de Transport Maritime à la Voile (CTMV) with the goal of decarbonising the wine industry. The firm managed to sail its 50m-vessel four times from France to Ireland, England and Canada, before going into liquidation as a consequence of the 2008 economic crisis. Despite the failure, Albert’s pioneering project was a sign for things to come. In 2013, Le Havre-based TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT) followed in CTMV’s footsteps sailing some 3 ...

Discover other regions and appellation of Japan