The historical geographies of growing and fermenting the Delaware grape in the Kōfu Basin of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

The Kōfu Basin in Yamanashi Prefecture is at the center of table grape and wine production in Japan. This article traces the historical geographies of the growing and fermentation of Delaware grapes in this region. Data were gathered from over 145 interviews with stakeholders across the table grape and wine industries, extensive archival research and participant observation as a grape farmer in the Kōfu Basin for over one and a half years. Emphasis is placed on intertwining that history to overarching developments in local viticulture and winemaking. This includes tracing the arrival of the cultivar from the USA to Japan at the start of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, early fermentation and later rapid diffusion linked to its popularity as the first commercially available seedless cultivar. Delaware reached the pinnacle of its popularity as a grape for the table and wine in the 1960s and 1970s, before changes in consumer demands to higher value table grapes and away from sweet wines led to its fairly rapid decline. Although significantly less Delaware is grown or fermented today, this introduced grape was and surprisingly continues to be highly influential on the developmental trajectories of Japanese grape growing and winemaking.