The three Js – Julia, José Vouillamoz and I – co-authors of Wine Grapes (which is now so well known that we no longer mention the subtitle) have been frustrated at how difficult it has been to find anyone prepared to publish a translation of our extensive, multi-award-winning guide to all 1,368 grape varieties we identified as producing wine commercially when we wrote the book over the four years leading up to its publication in English in 2012. We would dearly love to see it published for the benefit of French, Italian and Spanish vignerons.
It may of course have quite a lot to do with the book's length: 1,242 pages. So bless the Japanese publisher Masaaki Sato of Kyoritsu Shuppan, aided and abetted by translators Matahito Kitayama of Indiana University in the US and Dr Nami Goto-Yamamoto at the National Research Institute of Brewing in Japan, who have come up with a Japanese version of Wine Grapes. To judge from the people I met during my recent visit to Japan, they enlisted help from many specialists in particular wine regions around the world.
The book, which of course is not cheap (40,000 yen) can be ordered from sales@kyoritsu-pub.co.jp and you can discover more from this dedicated website for this brand new Japanese edition..
Here's the accompanying leaflet, showing those 'Japanese wine experts' who recommend the book:
