Grace Cuvee Misawa Blanc 2021

Grace Winery (Chuo Budoshu) was founded in 1923 by Chotaro Misawa in Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture — the birthplace of Japan's wine industry. The winery has a strong history of innovation, becoming one of the first in the country to introduce Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP) in 1990 to improve grape quality. It remains family-run today, led by winemaker Ayana Misawa, Chotaro's great-great-granddaughter, and is considered a benchmark for quality in Japanese winemaking — balancing traditional craftsmanship with progressive technique to express the unique terroir of the region.

Cuvée Misawa Blanc is Grace's flagship single-vineyard Chardonnay, sourced from the Misawa Vineyard in the Akeno district — a cool-climate site at 700m altitude, oriented north-south so wind moves through it year-round. Of the vineyard's three Chardonnay parcels, only fruit from the sections with the best air circulation is selected, with yields strictly controlled at 40 hl/ha or less. Grapes are hand-picked, carried in small 10kg crates to minimise damage, and harvested only once they've turned golden and reached full maturity. After a gentle whole-bunch press, the wine is fermented and matured mostly in old French oak barrels, with a small proportion of new oak in the mix.

The wine's history dates back to the 1990s, when Grace first planted a small Chardonnay plot in the hills of Katsunuma. Winemaker Shigekazu Misawa has described being struck by the richness, complexity and ageing potential of the earliest vintages (1996 and 1997) — a discovery that shaped the winery's continued commitment to the variety, now carried on through the Misawa Vineyard in Akeno. It's a genuinely tiny production: 2021 yielded only three barrels total, made in a growing season the winery has described as one where "valuing the basics was paramount."

The Wine Front — 94 points (2 November 2023)
"Matchstick, pear, peach and lime, plenty of fresh cut ginger and spice, with some caramel richness. It's bright and spicy, more of that ginger and struck match, grapefruit and lime zest, spicy biscuit, fresh pineapple with a butter toffee richness, flinty texture, a juicy and tangy cinnamon dusted finish of excellent length. Quite intense, a little more tropical in flavour than is normal for this wine, but still very good."
Read the full review at The Wine Front