It's late November and time for Beaujolais Nouveau 2010. So far in Asia it is still mainly the Japanese who have taken a serious interest in this product but should we be surprised? For it is in...

Below is a little bit of Easter Monday/bank holiday silliness, a very short film I made when just about to be quizzed by various journalists in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi prefecture, centre of...

Is there no end to Berry Bros’ imperialistic ambitions? Not content with owning most of St James’s in London, they are already oldtimers in both Hong Kong and Ireland with a thriving retail...

Like many Chinese vine growers, Japan’s wine producers have to cope with summer monsoons. In some cases bunches may even be individually protected from the rain, such is the level of care taken...

Alan Yau, the restaurateur behind the new Sake No Hana in London’s St James’s Street, has already conceived of and established wagamama (the Japanese noodle chain he subsequently lost...

Ned Goodwin, Japan: I wasn`t aware that wine lists from Japan were submitted for your perusal so apologies for the...

Among the many clouds that have characterised this damp, cool and gloomy British summer there has been at least one professional silver lining: I have come to appreciate and enjoy nimono...

Koshu of Japan seems to be making real inroads into the UK. Yesterday's tasting at the Imagination Gallery in London, the third annual event there, was the best attended to date with 138...

When I started out writing about wine in the 1970s I was told firmly that the Asians would never become wine drinkers. There was commonly supposed to be something about the Asian palate and...

I know that at the moment many wine lovers will be seeking news of Châteaux in south-west France. That will follow. Meanwhile here is an assessment of Japan's most famous 'Château'....

Those of you who have never heard of the Japanese grape variety about which I wrote on Saturday in Koshu gets a passpor t may be a bit puzzled. But Grace Koshu was certainly the wine that stood...

'Japan, wine exporter' has a somewhat unlikely ring to it, but that is the aim of a new organisation, Koshu of Japan, that would very much like to shine an international spotlight on a grape...

The second course of our dinner at the Tawaraya ryokan, a traditional inn where one sleeps directly on tatami mats, in Kyoto, Japan, contained a series of dried and pickled fish topped with a...

On our last night in Japan we were taken to Kojyo, the celebrated Tokyo restaurant where reservations are incredibly difficult to come by, apparently. It's basically a top-quality sushi bar that,...

Here's how to feel important. Go to Yamanashi prefecture in Japan, where 95% of all Japanese Koshu grapes are grown. Taste a few of them. Then go to a press conference of local journalists who...