One thing we love about winemaking is that it is not constrained to just the regions you are familiar with. Every now and again, you may be surprised to find a new country or region that you never would've thought produces wine like, say, Japan.
A few years ago, we visited Japan and were fortunate enough to try some Japanese wines made from well-known European grapes. We knew that the country had their own native grapes, many of which are hybrids, but unfortunately had no suitcase room to bring any bottles home.
When we returned in 2026, we fixed that mistake, and picked up several highly rated bottles of wines made with local grapes- like Grace's Koshu! We have to say, while a reserved wine in many respects, we quite liked this one.