Grace Akeno
| Winery | Grace |
| Appellation | Yamanashi |
| Wine Style | Elegant Fine Red Wine |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Bottle Closure | Cork |
| Viticulture | Conventional |
| Alcohol by Volume | 13,50% |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Ageing Potential from Vintage | < 10 Years |
| Ageing | Old Oak Barrel |
| Availability | Available |
Tasting notes
Strikingly elegant dry red wine. Deep bright cherry colour with colourful tears. Complex nose of black currant and ditto pepper, green peppers and mint. Slender texture à la bordelaise of yesteryear, with squat tannins, fine acids and controlled alcohol; long, initially discreet, spicy finish. Asks for short-seared aged red meat, feathered game cooked in the oven in grape leaves, wild mushroom ragout, risotto with truffle, fresh white cheese. Best to decant an hour in advance. Serving temperature: 16°C.
Wine Story
The colour of Japan - I remember when I was a child, my grandfather would let me sniff Koshu and said to me “This is the aroma of vinifera”. My father would bring me to the sun-bathed vineyards, showed me a bunch of Koshu grapes, lucid with a light purplish shade under the sun, and said to me “This is a restrained Japanese colour”.
Koshu has pale carnation pink skin rather than bright pink like vivid or hot pink, shy and unpretentious Japanese people might see themselves in Koshu’s low-key color. Inherited from my family’s passion, I grew up together with Koshu. Koshu is said to arrive from the far-away South Caucasus over 1,000 years ago. Throughout the years, it not only has not faced extinction but instead was integrated into our soils.
To us winemakers brought up in Yamanashi, no matter where Koshu came from, it will not change the fact that it is our most treasured grape variety. Koshu continues to thrive. Its hidden potential, occasionally revealed, has impressed me time and again.
I hope you will enjoy the taste my provenance and my family have taught me to appreciate.
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