Katsunuma Wine Tour: Japan's Oldest Wine Country in 2026

An hour and a half west of Tokyo, in a basin of pergola-trained vines under Mt Fuji’s light, sits the oldest wine region in Japan — and one almost no foreign visitor thinks to see. Katsunuma, in eastern Yamanashi, has grown wine for over 140 years, and its signature grape, the indigenous Koshu, makes a pale, delicate, faintly citrus white that is quietly becoming one of the world’s interesting food wines. This guide explains what Koshu is, which wineries actually welcome visitors and how, and how to taste your way through a region where the cellars are spread across hills a car apart.

At a glance

• Where: Katsunuma and Koshu, eastern Yamanashi, ~90 minutes from Tokyo
• The grape: Koshu — thin-skinned, light, low-alcohol, citrus-edged white
• Tasting style: a mix of reservation-only tours and walk-in tasting rooms
• Don’t drive after tasting: use loop taxis, a driver, or stay in nearby Isawa Onsen
• Best months: vines are loveliest July–October; harvest and new wine in autumn

What makes Koshu — and Katsunuma — worth the trip

Japan’s wine story begins here. In 1877 two young men from the area were sent to France to learn viticulture and returned to plant; the company that sent them is the ancestor of today’s Chateau Mercian. The grape they built the region on, Koshu, is a thin-skinned pink table-and-wine grape thought to have travelled the Silk Road centuries ago. It yields a light, low-alcohol white with gentle citrus and a clean, almost saline finish — at its best a superb partner for delicate Japanese food, and historically dismissed as thin until a generation of growers proved it could make structured, age-worthy wine.

What makes Katsunuma a genuine destination rather than a single tasting room is the concentration: dozens of wineries, from 19th-century pioneers to tiny family operations, scattered across the vineyards of Katsunuma, Ichinomiya and neighbouring Kai. You can taste the full arc of Japanese wine — crisp ‘sur lie’ Koshu, barrel-aged and skin-contact styles, European reds — within a few kilometres.

The setting helps too. The Kofu basin tilts toward the south, catching long hours of sun and draining cold mountain air at night, and the traditional pergola training keeps the grapes high off the warm, humid ground — an old answer to a wet climate that gives Katsunuma’s vineyards their distinctive look, a green canopy you walk beneath rather than between. Many of the wineries also grow peaches and other fruit, so a visit in late summer often comes with the basin’s orchards in full swing alongside the vines.

The wineries to build a tour around

Chateau Mercian is the place to start and to understand the region. Japan’s most decorated producer runs paid guided tours from its Katsunuma visitor centre — in English by arrangement — that walk the vineyard and cellar and end with a comparative tasting across Koshu styles. Reserve the tour ahead; tasting-only flights are also available at the counter.

Grace Wine, the label of the family firm Chuo Budoshu, is the standard-bearer for serious Koshu, especially its single-vineyard bottlings. There is no cellar tour here — Grace is a grower first — but the upstairs tasting room lets you pour your own comparisons from dispensers. Mind the hours: it is closed Sundays from January to July, and Wednesdays from August to December.

Lumiere, in Ichinomiya, is one of the very few biodynamic wineries in Japan, farming by the lunar calendar and still using a Meiji-era stone fermentation tank. Its restaurant, Zelkova, serves a reservation-only prix-fixe French lunch built around Koshu beef and Kai salmon, each course paired to the estate’s wines — the most complete way to taste what the region grows and cooks. If you only want a quick taste, a self-serve dispenser pours glasses for around ¥100–400 (approx. 2026).

Katsunuma Budo-no-Oka is the easy democratic option: a city-run hilltop complex whose underground cellar holds some 20,000 bottles from around 80 local wineries. Buy a tastevin cup at the door and pour your own way through the racks — the broadest single survey of Yamanashi wine anywhere, with the Kofu basin and, on a clear day, Fuji from the terrace above. Cellar entry runs around ¥2,200 (approx. 2026).

Suntory Tomi no Oka, west across the basin in Kai, is a 150-hectare estate with one of the great views in Yamanashi and paid tours of the vineyard and cellar. Tours sell out on weekends, so reserve. Our Katsunuma wine country itinerary sequences these into two manageable days with an onsen night in between.

How to taste without driving — and other practicalities

The one hard rule of a Katsunuma tour is that Japan has zero tolerance for drink-driving, and the wineries are spread across hills you cannot reasonably walk between. Your options: designate a non-drinking driver, use the Katsunuma area’s wine taxis and loop services, or — the comfortable choice — stay overnight in nearby Isawa Onsen and split the tasting across two days. Isawa sits conveniently between the vineyards and Kofu, with onsen ryokan that serve Koshu-beef kaiseki, so the day can end with a glass rather than a drive.

A few more notes. Many wineries close one weekday and over New Year, and the better tours and the Zelkova lunch need reservations — plan the route around opening days rather than assuming you can drop in. The vineyards are at their most beautiful from July, when the pergolas leaf out, through the autumn harvest and the release of the year’s new wine. And budget travellers should note the international departure tax rises from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 per person from July 1, 2026. If you would rather pair wine with the region’s history, our Kofu and Shosenkyo guide covers the warlord capital just west of the vineyards.

FAQ

What is Koshu wine? Koshu is a pale-pink, thin-skinned grape grown in Yamanashi for centuries and used to make Japan’s most distinctive white wine — light, low in alcohol, with gentle citrus and a clean finish. It pairs beautifully with delicate Japanese cuisine and is the grape most associated with Katsunuma and Japanese wine generally.

How do I get to Katsunuma from Tokyo? Take a JR limited express (Azusa or Kaiji) from Shinjuku toward Kofu and alight at Katsunuma-Budokyo Station, roughly 90 minutes to two hours. From the station, the wineries are spread out, so use local wine taxis, a tour, or a car with a non-drinking driver to move between them.

Do I need reservations for Katsunuma wineries? For guided tours and sit-down wine lunches, yes — Chateau Mercian’s English tour, Lumiere’s Restaurant Zelkova and Suntory Tomi no Oka’s tours all want advance booking, and Tomi no Oka sells out on weekends. Walk-in tasting rooms and the Budo-no-Oka cellar do not need reservations, but check each winery’s closed days first.

Can I do a Katsunuma wine tour as a day trip? You can, but two days is better. The wineries’ reservation rules, closed days and the no-drink-driving constraint make a relaxed pace easier across two days, with an overnight in Isawa Onsen so you are not rushing or driving after tasting. A day trip works if you focus on the walkable Budo-no-Oka cellar and one or two nearby wineries.

When is the best time to visit Katsunuma? The vineyards are loveliest from July through October, peaking with the autumn grape harvest and the release of the year’s new wine. Spring is quieter and the vines are bare; winter tastings are possible but several wineries shorten hours. Whenever you go, confirm each winery’s opening days in advance.

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