About Yamagata Nouveau Blanc
- Style
- White, Sweet
- Grape Varieties
- Delaware
- Price Range
- ¥1,520
- ¥1,672 incl. tax
Yamagata Nouveau Blanc is Tendo Winery's seasonal new-release white wine, made from 100% Delaware grapes grown in Yamagata Prefecture and bottled fresh from each year's harvest — the winery's answer to Beaujolais Nouveau, using Japan's most planted native table grape instead. The winery notes that each vintage is fermented while playing Mozart's Serenade No. 13 (Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525) to the fermenting must, a signature touch tied to the wine's release. Classified as slightly sweet (yaya-amakuchi) and light-bodied, it showcases Delaware's soft, aromatic, faintly musky fruit character and gentle acidity, arriving in 720ml bottles each autumn as one of Japan's earliest new-wine releases.
Japan's most charming answer to Beaujolais Nouveau — built from humble Delaware instead of Gamay, and fermented, by the winery's own account, to the sound of Mozart.
New to wine?
A gentle, easy-drinking way to try Japanese nouveau wine — light, faintly sweet, and unmistakably grapey.
Food Pairings
The gentle sweetness and delicate grapey aroma pair well with light appetizers, fresh fruit, mild cheeses, and lightly seasoned seafood; it also works nicely alongside autumn harvest dishes given its seasonal, celebratory character.
When to drink it
Autumn harvest celebrations, seasonal gifting, and casual gatherings marking the year's new-wine release.
Terroir & Winemaking
Made from 100% Yamagata-grown Delaware grapes harvested and bottled within the same season, in the style of a Japanese nouveau (new-wine) release. Classified by the winery as slightly sweet (yaya-amakuchi) and light-bodied; the fermenting must is traditionally fermented to the sound of Mozart's Serenade No. 13, K. 525.
About the producer
Tendo WineryYamagata terroir, aged quietly in a century-old kura天童市, 山形県 · Founded 1984Visit the producer page →Frequently Asked Questions
- What grape is Yamagata Nouveau Blanc made from?
- It is made from 100% Delaware grapes grown in Yamagata Prefecture — Japan's most widely planted table-grape variety, here used as the base for a fresh, seasonal nouveau-style white wine.
- Is Yamagata Nouveau Blanc sweet or dry?
- Tendo Winery classifies it as slightly sweet (yaya-amakuchi) with a light body, showing Delaware's characteristic gentle sweetness, soft musky-fruit aroma, and mild acidity rather than a fully sweet or bone-dry style.
- When is Yamagata Nouveau Blanc released each year?
- It is released as a seasonal new wine shortly after that year's Delaware harvest, following Tendo Winery's tradition of bottling and selling nouveau wines fresh each autumn — its exact vintage and price can vary slightly from year to year.
- Is there anything unusual about how it's made?
- Tendo Winery says the fermenting must is played Mozart's Serenade No. 13 (Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525) during fermentation each year, a quirky signature tied to this particular nouveau release.
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