Looking for a drink in Japan?

A bottle of sake or a few pints of a domestic beer are the most obvious choices, but wine drinkers should give the local grape, the Koshu, a chance.

Koshu wine is produced by about 80 vineyards in the Yamanashi prefecture at the base of Mount Fuji.

Ayana Misawa, winemaker at Grace Vineyard, describes the variety as charming, with a crisp acidity and low alcohol level.

“Koshu has a very elegant smell," she says. "Aromas like citrus, white flowers."

Misawa, the fifth generation winemaker in her family, is part of a movement to bring international techniques to Yamanashi to improve the quality of the product.

She studied methods in France, South America, Australia and New Zealand.

Now she strives to make more international, “food-friendly” Koshu.

Read - Quality Japanese wine? It's no oxymoron