An American hybrid, also familiar in Japan as a table grape. Vinified, it gives an approachable white with the sweet aromatics Japanese drinkers know well and soft acidity. It has long been used for wine in Yamagata and the wider Tōhoku region.
Identified in Delaware, Ohio in the 19th century and introduced to Japan in the Meiji era. Easy to grow and reliably productive, it spread nationwide as a table grape. In Yamagata it has also long been vinified, making it one of the varieties that supported the earliest days of the Japanese wine industry.
Guests are often surprised that the familiar table grape becomes wine, yet dry versions go remarkably well with food. Its affinity with Japanese ingredients is high, and it is essential to any account of Japanese wine history.