About Kuju Winery Kougen no Shizuku
- Style
- White, dessert
- Grape Varieties
- Steuben
- Price Range
- ¥1,150-3,500
- 375-500ml, varies by vintage
Kougen no Shizuku ("Highland's Dewdrop") is Kuju Winery's signature ice wine, one of only a handful of true ice wines produced in Japan. Made from Steuben grapes grown at the winery's own vineyard 850 meters up in the Kuju Highlands of Oita Prefecture, the grapes are left on the vine into the depths of winter and allowed to freeze naturally before pressing, concentrating their sugars and flavor several times over. The result is a lusciously sweet, honey-gold dessert wine with intense notes of ripe mango and honey. Because natural freeze-concentration is unpredictable and juice yields are tiny, Kougen no Shizuku has historically been released only in small, numbered batches — as few as 58 bottles in some vintages — making it one of Kuju Winery's rarest and most sought-after bottlings.
One of the very few genuine ice wines made in Japan — Kougen no Shizuku's honeyed concentration is a direct expression of just how cold Kuju's high-altitude winters get, and that scarcity is exactly what makes it worth seeking out.
New to wine?
A rare taste of true ice wine from Japan — pour it in small glasses, well chilled, and treat it like dessert.
Food Pairings
Excellent with blue cheese, foie gras, and fruit tarts. In Japan it pairs beautifully with yokan or anko-based wagashi, whose refined bean sweetness plays against the wine's concentrated honeyed fruit.
When to drink it
Special celebrations, anniversary gifts, or as a luxurious finale to a dinner.
Terroir & Winemaking
Produced using the traditional ice wine (Eiswein) method: Steuben grapes are left on the vine and allowed to freeze naturally in the cold winter air of the 850m-elevation Kuju Highlands, then pressed while still frozen so that only concentrated sugars and flavor compounds are extracted. Bottled in small formats (historically 375-500ml) due to the tiny juice yield, with releases limited to a few dozen to a few hundred bottles per vintage.
About the producer
Kuju WineryKyushu's highest-altitude estate winery, rising from tourist souvenir to Japan's top 4-star producer竹田市, 大分県 · Founded 2003Visit the producer page →Frequently Asked Questions
- What makes Kougen no Shizuku an "ice wine"?
- Its Steuben grapes are left on the vine and frozen naturally by the cold winter air at Kuju Winery's 850-meter-high vineyard, then pressed while frozen to concentrate the sugars — the classic Eiswein method.
- How sweet is it?
- Very sweet — past vintages have been described as intensely concentrated, with flavors of ripe mango and honey.
- Why is it sold in such small bottles and small quantities?
- Freezing the grapes naturally yields very little juice, so Kougen no Shizuku is bottled in small formats (historically 375-500ml) in tiny, numbered batches — sometimes as few as several dozen bottles per vintage.
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