Low-priced wines enjoy popularity amid economic slowdown

By Tetsuya Katsuda

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 32 Total Comments Show All

jason6 at 11:46 AM JST - 9th October

i have ranged up and down from wine tastings to all-you-can-drink wine nights (I love Alberta Alberta's 840yen wine-baikingu!) and it gives me some satisfaction to find something enjoyable for a great value. you won't find mind-blowingly good stuff, but there are some solid, everyday drinkable ones in the bargain section! here's a good test: do a blind taste-test with an assortment of expensive/cheap wines. if you can't tell the difference or if you consistently prefer something less than what you usually pay, then you are wasting your money!
kirakira25 at 01:05 PM JST - 9th October

By "domestic wine" do they mean Japanese wine? I have tried it and it was pretty rank. (If anyone can recommend a good Japanese wine please do!)

On the everyday wine I am with Cleo - the cheap stuff is often pretty good. We have a few firm favourites, but as for sloshing it in the cooking - it is lucky if it gets that far! It`s only the stuff we forgot to pump for a few days that goes in our cooking!
Guamarama at 01:24 PM JST - 9th October

God, I miss MD 20/20....
kirakira25 at 01:52 PM JST - 9th October

Yeugh! Do you really?! I can`t believe I used to drink that stuff!
jonswan4 at 02:12 PM JST - 9th October

RugbyFan: Village Cellars online or by fax is a great place to get Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region - NZ is well known to produce about the finest Sauv. Blancs in the world - not bad at 2,300 a bottle... Drinking every day is crazy; the body needs alcohol holidays, especially if you're drinking the cheap stuff. 3-4 times a week should be the maximum unless you want major health problems a few years down the road...
Rugbyfan at 03:43 PM JST - 9th October

Thank you to "Wakarimasen" and "ionswan4" for your advice. I live in Gunma and I've never seen gaijin supermarkets but I certainly will try the on-line approach. Thanks again. My wife will be really happy.
sicklittlemonkey at 03:55 PM JST - 9th October

Village Cellars online definitely has a good rep, though I've not tried them myself. And for some reason, every wine I've bought in Japan has been sub-par, cheap or not, even when it's a label I know to be good back home.
Foxie at 05:43 PM JST - 9th October

This cheap wine wants to make me cry. It is an insult to the art of making good wine. Either drink good wine or drink good mineral water.
Potsu at 07:37 PM JST - 9th October

Did it ever NOT enjoy popularity ?
Sarge at 07:54 PM JST - 9th October

"drink good wine"

I do. And it's not expensive. Well, compared to grape juice it is, but... there's no reason to pay more than 600 yen for a 750ml bottle of wine unless you just want to waste money.
rewetzel1 at 10:20 PM JST - 9th October

Avoid those cheap wines from Chile. ... avoid them I say!
browny1 at 10:22 PM JST - 9th October

The idea that screw caps = bad wine is so misconstrued and could only be made these days out of ignorance or snobbery.

In fact many of the world class New World winemakers refuse to use unreliable corks for fear of spoilage. It has been reckoned that 10% of corks fail to some degree resulting in an inferior product at the consumer end.

No other food or beverage industry in the world runs at a 10% spoilage factor and deems it acceptable. The public don't accept it in other foodstuffs and only seemingly tolerate it in wine because of some misguided idea perpetuated by outdated industry moguls - that it's part of the experience.

The wine breathes through the cork. Ha, Ha, Ha.

Air + Wine in the bottle = Rust.
LoveUSA at 10:47 PM JST - 9th October

do. And it's not expensive. Well, compared to grape juice it is, but... there's no reason to pay more than 600 yen for a 750ml bottle of wine unless you just want to waste money.

I drink wine for more than 600 yen and I enjoy it, especially when others pay for it. The problem is to find a refined man willing to pay. Alas, I am not going to drink wine with Sarge because he won't be willing to spend money for high class wine. I refuse to drink the cheap wine he relishes after work.
Seawolf at 11:18 PM JST - 9th October

browny1, can only agree with you. But than again, a lot of selling expensive wine is through creating myths and the sommelier doing a lot of (snobbish) talking, making it an "experience". I remember a scene a few years ago from the TV Drama "Sommelier" or so ( Yes, that was the Red Wine boom). He served a priest a rather simple, cheap wine and that person, recognizing the taste similar to what was served in the church, thought it to be a very good one. And yes, the industry moguls and marketing companies working hard to keep up the image of "Terroir" and "the art of making good wine" as mentioned above. The reality is, with modern technology nowadays its 99% a technical affair, and run as a business to make profit. Ever heard about using oak-wood chips inside the wine instead of small oak-barrels? Much faster and easier, and uses less wood. But it would go against the "art" aspect, meaning it is supressed.
browny1 at 01:45 PM JST - 10th October

Yes Seawolf - the "Experience" of wine is so overly exagerrated and impressed upon a gullible audience.

I love wine, have worked in wineries and associated industries and for most workers at the ground level, wine is simply something to be enjoyed. A little knowledge can expand our understanding, but in the end we drink what we like - without all the hoopla, pretensions & circuses.

As you mentioned, adding oak wood chips to impart "oakiness" is not an unusual practice - infact burnt wood chips are used to create the smokiness of a "fume" (fumay).

Egad the hordes would be horrified.