I visited the annual Spring Wine Festival held in KOSHU, Yamanashi Prefecture, over the last weekend in May.
お天気にも恵まれ、昼頃に到着。残念ながら座るところがなーい(^◇^;) 立って飲むのは嫌、シェードがないテーブルもイヤ。落ち着いたのは広場のベンチでした。来年行かれる方は早めに会場入りすることをお勧めします。
The weather cleared up and it turned out to be a beautiful day but it was pretty humid. By the time my husband and I arrived to the festival around noon, the place was already packed with people. If you are planning on going next year, I suggest you go early. It was standing room only at the bar in the corner and there were only a few tables and chairs left open, but none of them had sun shades and I really wanted to sit down. We ended up choosing a bench under a tree in the nearby park located just across from the event.
まず、入場券とグラスのデポジット(¥500)で一人1200円。今回出店しているワイナリーは31。ワインは211種類。これだけのワイナリーが一同に会し、いろいろ試せるのは素晴らしいですね。ワンフィンガー、ツーフィンガーとボトルで頼め、グラスと一緒に価格表をもらいました。ドリンクとフードは別に金券を購入します。
We paid an entrance fee plus a deposit for a wine glass (¥500), which brought the total entrance fee to ¥1,200/person. The event staff also handed out a wine list with pricing. Thirty-one wineries participated that day and you could try or buy 211 wines. If you've ever traveled around trying to purchase Japanese wines you realize how cool it is to have so many selections all in one place! In order to participate in the wine and food parings we needed to purchase a meal coupon as well.
We started out with sparkling wine, a Kizan Sparkling Traditional Brut. My favorite wine maker. Cold, smooth and perfect as a starter. This is a truly elegant wine and I would highly recommend it for that wedding or special event you are planning to hold.
There were a number of food serving corners, so I chose a grilled sausage and chicken dish. The volume of food served was quite modest, i.e,. not enough if you are hungry, sufficient if you are just experimenting with flavors and pairings. Still, my ¥3000 coupon was gone after just two wine servings and a food paring. Something to think about.
〆はやはり甲州と言うことで、Kiswinさんのに致しました。ここの甲州は甲州独特の後味の苦味が出ないように作っているそうなので、本当にサラッと飲めました。
I picked Kisvin's KOSHU wine for the last glass of the day. The vintner told me that they are trying to lessen the bitter after taste of the Koshu grape when making this wine. Bitterness is a typical characteristic of KOSHU grapes and the wines it makes. I would say that Kisvin has succeeded with this wine since it had a more mild after taste than most KOSHU wines I've tasted. It was just perfect as my last wine of the day.
This was an excellent event to get to know some of the wineries in Yamanashi and I would highly recommend it if you are interested in the wines from this region. I wish we could have tasted more of the offerings, but just the few sips we had cost over ¥200 and most of the wines that I wanted to taste were over ¥500. No doubt this is a pricy event and after spending ¥8,000, it was time to go. Actually my husband had to pull me away.
呑んでみたいと思うのはソコソコなお値段。色々なワイナリーのワインが一度にテイスティング出来るのは楽しいけど、全て有料はちょっと高いかなぁ。例えば食べ物持ち込みオッケーとか、入場料をもう少し高くして、フリーのワインと有料ワインを設けるとかすれば、私たちのように電車賃使って来て、このテイスティングの機会を最大限に利用したいと思う人たちにも魅力的なイベントになるのにと思いました。地元の人が多く、食べ物を持ち込みして酔っ払ってしまわれるのは、主催者にはあまり良くないことかもしれませんが、であれば時間制とか?何か工夫できるといいかもしれませんね。
In my opinion, had they allowed us to bring in outside-food or a picnic, or had they charged us a certain fee which included a free drink, and had fewer exceptional paid wines, it would had been more fun. I know they resist doing this because too many people would come to events like this bring their own food and get drunk, but for someone like me who is simply looking for more tasting opportunities, a program that would have offered a greater tasting selection at a more reasonable price would have made the event much more meaningful to me.
ゆっくりする予定でしたが、予算オーバーしたので、もう帰ります。
After an hour or so at the event we left and headed back to the train. Our commute time, roundtrip, was about three hours.