Toyohiko (Toyo) and Micchi Kanehashi are running one of the top wineries in Nagano: Funky Château, in Aoki Village. They were working in Tokyo – Toyo as a music producer,…
Nagano region, Japan (5) Cave Hatano
Nobutaka Hatano started his career as a chef, and he fell into winemaking almost by accident. He applied for the chefs job at Villa d’Est in Nagano, but there were…
Nagano region, Japan (4) Rue de Vin
Hideaki Koyami is the man behind Rue de Vin. He began working in Yamanashi 20 years ago. Before that he was employed by an electric company. In 2006 he moved…
Nagano region, Japan (3) a tasting at Tomi Wine Chapel
In Tomi, there’s a wine bar and tasting room where you can sample many different Nagano Wines. It’s great to have a wine-focused place like this in town. We…
Nagano region, Japan (2) Gio Hills
The first winery visit of this year’s Nagano tour was at Gio Hills winery, which is owned by the Tomioka family: Masaki and his wife Yoko, and their winemaker son…
Nagano region, Japan, day 1
I’ve returned to the Nagano wine region, which I visited last March. It’s in the middle of Japan, which is quite a long, thin country stretching from 26 degrees south…
Reviewing eight British Airways lounge wines
I find myself in the airport lounge with some time to spare, so I thought I’d write notes on the lounge wines. I’m a geek! Destination this time is Japan…
Domaines Delon: Léoville-Las-Cases, Potensac, Clos du Marquis and Nénin
Jean-Hubert Delon owns four Bordeaux estates, with the Jewel in the crown being second growth Léoville-Las-Cases in Saint-Julien. In addition, he owns Nénin in Pomerol, Clos du Marquis in Saint-Julien,…
Are wine recommendations important?
Every now and then I get a request from a student of wine to answer some questions for a dissertation of some kind. I try my best to answer, but…