Quite neutral, pale whitish-green color. Fresh, fine-tuned nose of ripe red apple and vague spicy notes, some fresh quince, a little bit of borderline unripe pear, light grassy green notes, a hint of leesy character, a floral touch of apple blossom and a whiff of ocean air. The wine is clean and slightly neutral on the palate with a rather light body and quite intense flavors of crunchy quince and tart green apple, some saline mineral notes, a little bit of grassy greenness, light leesy notes, a hint of stony minerality and a floral touch of apple blossom. Even though the wine has this kind of neutrality to it, it avoids being austere with its combination of nuances and intensity of those understated fruit flavors. The high acidity lends great sense of focus, structure and freshness to the wine. The finish is long, clean and crunchy with slightly neutral flavors of steely minerality, some tart green apple tones, a little bit of pithy bitterness and chalk dust, light leesy nuances and a hint of unripe pear.
This wine was not unlike a high-class Muscadet, showing this sort of understated fruit and bright minerality combined with high acidity and relatively light body. Although not a flashy or technically "impressive" wine, this was still a very good effort for what is a rather neutral style of Koshu, showing a bit more nuance, acidity and intensity than is expected of a simple entry-level Koshu. Although a bit predictable, this was still a very positive effort, especially for a wine coming from one of the biggest wineries in Japan.
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1/20/2022 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points
12% alcohol.
Quite neutral, pale whitish-green color. Fresh, fine-tuned nose of ripe red apple and vague spicy notes, some fresh quince, a little bit of borderline unripe pear, light grassy green notes, a hint of leesy character, a floral touch of apple blossom and a whiff of ocean air. The wine is clean and slightly neutral on the palate with a rather light body and quite intense flavors of crunchy quince and tart green apple, some saline mineral notes, a little bit of grassy greenness, light leesy notes, a hint of stony minerality and a floral touch of apple blossom. Even though the wine has this kind of neutrality to it, it avoids being austere with its combination of nuances and intensity of those understated fruit flavors. The high acidity lends great sense of focus, structure and freshness to the wine. The finish is long, clean and crunchy with slightly neutral flavors of steely minerality, some tart green apple tones, a little bit of pithy bitterness and chalk dust, light leesy nuances and a hint of unripe pear.
This wine was not unlike a high-class Muscadet, showing this sort of understated fruit and bright minerality combined with high acidity and relatively light body. Although not a flashy or technically "impressive" wine, this was still a very good effort for what is a rather neutral style of Koshu, showing a bit more nuance, acidity and intensity than is expected of a simple entry-level Koshu. Although a bit predictable, this was still a very positive effort, especially for a wine coming from one of the biggest wineries in Japan.
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