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Wine-making has flourished in Japan over the past century or so, and small-town wineries like Miyoshi Winery are some of the best places to try great new vintages, taking advantage of local flavors like Miyoshi’s own local grapes. Out of the various wines produced at the winery each year, quite a few have earned prizes at international competitions, and others have become favorites within Japan. It’s a must-see for wine lovers visiting Miyoshi!

You know you’ve arrived at the right place when you see the patch of grapevines out front! These particular grapes are Pinot Noir, but the winery also makes wine using numerous other grape varieties. One is the Pione grape, which is a local favorite!

A bottle of wine made at Miyoshi Winery has long been a popular souvenir for those traveling through the area, but when Naoyuki Ota became brewing chief in 2013 after learning the wine-making trade in New Zealand, the winery began to make a name for itself in the international world of wine. Quite a few of the wines from their Tomoe series have medaled in the International Wine and Spirit Competition and International Wine Challenge in recent years, like the 2018 Syrah, along with their 2019 Kizuta Vineyard Muscat Bailey A.

Of course, Miyoshi Winery offers plenty of opportunities to taste the wine! Right in the gift shop area, visitors can freely pour themselves samples of some of the winery’s more affordable varieties from their Kiriri series, crafted for everyday occasions. Anyone who likes wine but isn’t all that familiar with the ins and outs of wine tasting will appreciate the signs marking dry reds or sweet whites, with the bottles on display for easy identification. There’s even Miyoshi grape juice, so younger visitors can join in on the fun as well!

For those who want a more exclusive tasting, including any wine aficionados looking to indulge their palate with some of Miyoshi Winery’s premium bottles, the wine bar is in a smaller room beside the main shopping area. For a small fee (250 yen), they offer tastings of Tomoe wines and other select bottles, provided by a knowledgeable member of staff.

Underground, below the tasting stations and shop floor, casks of Miyoshi wine slowly age at the ideal temperature of 14°C (57°F). The “cave à vin” is open to visitors throughout the day, so a trip down to see the barrels and read about the aging process is a cool escape from the busy winery above.

When wine-tasting works up an appetite, there are a couple of places to grab a bite to eat at Miyoshi Winery. Cafe Vine offers lighter meals or Pione grape soft serve ice cream to go, and Barbecue Garden (above) is a Japanese yakiniku restaurant, where guests can barbecue their own cuts of wagyu beef over grills set into the tables. Of course, both establishments offer Miyoshi Wine, making the restaurants the perfect places to test out wine pairings. (Learn more about Barbecue Garden here.)

You won’t want to leave empty-handed!

While a bottle of Miyoshi Wine is still a great souvenir, the winery shop also sells a wide variety of other local snacks and treats to nibble on while traveling through Miyoshi, or to bring to family and friends back home.