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At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

japantimes.co.jp

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Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#11

Post by taeric »

hospitalJail wrote: post #4

Japan's obsession with tradition gives me real Europe vibes. The people selling it praise it, the people nearby have pride. I eat it and after all the hype, am disappointed. If I try really really hard, I can trick my brain into thinking its worthwhile. (I did just spend a bunch of money, traveled across the world, I should be able to enjoy this more than something I grow in my garden.. right?) I'd love blind taste t…

I hate to push the idea of experience, but you can try that next time.

That is, don't try and take in the taste individually. Look around and experience everything with you and try to imprint some of that into tasting it. Close your eyes and set the idea that it was all a part of it.

Then, later, if you can get back to this specific taste, it can help remind you in very physical ways of being there and having that experience.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#12

Post by hindsightbias »

MattGaiser wrote: post #5

I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

There are many vinyards that have small batch varieties, they just don’t invite the commoners.

There was a story recently about Coppola. His property has something like ~70 soil type/grape combinations and he has more money than god, so he decided to buy fermenters for every combination and see what happens.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#13

Post by swexbe »

Alex3917 wrote: post #7
MattGaiser wrote: post #5

I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

> Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. The reason we have less stuff like this in the USA is due to geography. We are a mostly flat country, rather than being mountainous or separated onto different small islands. Because of this, products produced via economies of scale can outcompete higher-quality artisanal products.

Except, shipping by boat has been more cost effective since the beginning of history. The furthest you can get from the ocean in Japan is like a full days walk.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#14

Post by sva_ »

f6v wrote: post #3

> Carefully, the chief viticulture engineer of Iwanohara Vineyard, Japan’s oldest operating winery, inspects each of the 5,500 grape vines that make up Iwanohara’s six hectares in Kitagata, Niigata Prefecture. > So far, Wada has found three bugs after two hours of work. The midday sun beats down, and beads of sweat pool on his neck. Iwanohara focuses on using as few pesticides as possible, an approach that means Wada…

I recommend the documentary Sour Grapes

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5728684/

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#15

Post by randomcarbloke »

hospitalJail wrote: post #4

Japan's obsession with tradition gives me real Europe vibes. The people selling it praise it, the people nearby have pride. I eat it and after all the hype, am disappointed. If I try really really hard, I can trick my brain into thinking its worthwhile. (I did just spend a bunch of money, traveled across the world, I should be able to enjoy this more than something I grow in my garden.. right?) I'd love blind taste t…

the taste-journey people undertake before arriving at specific and sought after examples is not something you can skip, you may be disappointed but probably you are just not looking for what you found.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#16

Post by dylan604 »

rcme wrote: post #6
hospitalJail wrote: post #4

Japan's obsession with tradition gives me real Europe vibes. The people selling it praise it, the people nearby have pride. I eat it and after all the hype, am disappointed. If I try really really hard, I can trick my brain into thinking its worthwhile. (I did just spend a bunch of money, traveled across the world, I should be able to enjoy this more than something I grow in my garden.. right?) I'd love blind taste t…

Children have horribly underdeveloped palates. Generally novices in anything, food or otherwise, have trouble appreciating the nuances that make something beautiful.

If children were in charge, they'd make everything taste like chicken nuggets. Kind of like the Matrix.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#17

Post by randomcarbloke »

MattGaiser wrote: post #5

I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

there are thousands of examples of this outside of Japan, there are small chateaux whose stock will never even see a market because it is promised to friends, family, a circle of trade customers, and some insiders, the venn diagram of which is probably not far off a wonky circle.

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#19

Post by [deleted] »

MattGaiser wrote: post #5

I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

[deleted]

Re: At Japan’s first winery, the country’s oldest grape lives on

#20

Post by dfxm12 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #5

I’m curious if handcrafting artisans like this exist in North America/Europe at anywhere near the same scale (and we only see stories from Japan as we view it as something their culture does) or whether this is a uniquely Japanese thing to do. Perhaps we just value it less here in North America. All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

Perhaps we just value it less here in North America.

I can't speak for Canada or Mexico, but due to so many benefits being tied to full time employment in the US and a general lack of any kind of social safety net, you have to already be independently wealthy or willing to be a starving artist to do something like that - invest a lot of time into learning a craft that probably won't payoff for decades (if at all).

All stories of extremely small batch but precisely crafted products seem to come out of Japan.

In general, I do think the west fetishizes this aspect of Japan's culture and thus overreports it. That said, many people around the world still do this. I suggest not relying on stories so much to understand the world around you.

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