This document discusses umami, a key taste in Japanese cuisine, and its relationship to Japanese wines. It examines how umami is derived from ingredients like kombu seaweed and dried bonito in dashi stock. The Japanese palate is highly sensitive to umami. Traditional Japanese wines like Koshu and Muscat Bailey A have delicate umami that pairs well with subtle Japanese dishes. For Koshu, techniques like sur lie aging increase umami levels. While the compounds contributing to wine umami are complex, amino acids, organic acids, and tannins all likely play a role.

1. Asian Directions—Palate & Perception
UMAMI of Wine
Japanese Palate Related to
Wine and Japanese Food
Michikatsu Sato
Lifelong Wine Education Program,
The Institute of Enology and Viticulture
University of Yamanashi

2. Sweet, sour, salty,
bitter and UMAMI.
What is UMAMI? Dr. Kikunae Ikeda
found it in1908.
Threshold (mg/L)
Amino acids: Glu/Na (MSG) 300←kombu (tangle weed)
Asp/Na 1000
Nucleic acids: Umami enhancer with MSG
Inosine monophosphate (IMP)←katsuobushi (dried bonito)
Guanosine monophosphate (GMP)←shiitake
mushroom
Organic acid: Succinate is the umami derived from shellfish.
In Japanese cuisine, dashi (soup stock) gives a very pure umami taste
sensation because it’s not based on meats. In dashi, L-glutamate
comes from kombu (tangle weed, Laminaria japonica) and inosinate
from dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi) or small dried sardines (niboshi).
Soy sauce also contains MSG and sodium aspartate.
⇓
Japanese are relatively sensitive to Umami compared with Europeans.
(Palate: the sensation of wine in the mouth)

3. Features of Japanese Food
Japanese cuisine has many varieties, but the basic
taste is formed by the dashi, soy sauce, and miso
(fermented soybean curd).
Japanese enjoys food as the material itself with a
subtle amount of seasoning such as soy sauce. So,
Japanese tends to have high sensitivity to the umami
taste.
⇓
Japanese traditional cuisine is based on
the UMAMI, and Japanese prefers a
delicate taste with appropriate UMAMI
not by just only MSG.

4. Tax Quantity of Domestic and Imported Wine in Japan
（×1000 kL)
300
250
200
I ported
m
150
D om esti
c
100
50
0
1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2007 2008 2009
Wine consumption in Japan is gradually increasing in these
3 years and they drink wine by 2.3 L/capita.
In Japan, wine became popular from 1997～1999 of the
red wine boom.

5. What is the UMAMI of Wine?
Red wine contains 26 – 54 mg/L of Glutamic acid,
and total amino acids, 395 – 1050 mg/L. (P. Lehtonen, 1996)
White wine contains 10 – 20 mg/L of Glutamic acid (M. Sato,
1994), and total amino acids would be 500 to 1000 mg/L.
⇓
As the threshold of MSG is 300 mg/L, the glutamic acid
alone does not contribute to the UMAMI of wine.
The palate may relate to UMAMI, and the balance of
amino acids and organic acids such as malate, tartrate
would be contributing to the UMAMI of white wine. Other
than that, phenolics (anthocyanins and tannins) and
lactate would contribute to the UMAMI of red wine. (Aging
may increase the UMAMI in Sur Lie wine and red wine.)
Umami is close to savory (flavor rich and good taste).

6. In Japan, there are Japan
specific grape varieties.
Wines from the varieties show a good
pairing of their delicate taste with
Japanese dishes
Those are,
Koshu and Muscat Bailey A

7. What is Koshu?
There are two folk stories on the Koshu grapes:
1. Daizenji Temple legend: A famous Budhist monk, Gyoki, brought
the grapes to Katsunuma, Koshu, Yamanashi Pref. in 718.
2. Kageyu Amemia legend: Amemiya who lived in Katsunuma started to
grow Koshu grapes in 1186.
Dr. Nami Goto-Yamamoto genetically
analyzed the origin, and found that the
Koshu grape is Vitis vinifera, and it is
a kind of oriental varieties.
The Koshu grape is indigenously grown in Japan and
has been traditionally cultured as table grapes in the Koshu
Katsunuma region, located 100 km west of Tokyo.
Although Koshu has existed since the 8th Century, the [Development of grape microsatellite markers
grape variety didn’t gain popularity until the Edo Era and microsatellite analysis including oriental
(1600-1867), when grapes were considered a delicacy cultivars. N. Goto-Yamamoto, H. Mouri, M.
Azumi, and K.J. Edwards. Am. J. Enol. Vitic.
for the Tokugawa Shogunate.
57, 105-108 (2006)]

8. Traits of Koshu
The grape cluster is a little
long, the size of berry is
medium, and the color of
skins are wisteria violet or
reddish brown. The ripen
grapes are sweet (16 to 19
ºBrix), a little sour, and good
as a table grape.
As the grape has not a
special aroma, Koshu wine
has a relatively flat taste
without special characters,
but it has very good
matching with Japanese
dishes.

9. Koshu grapes ripe slowly
25
25
リ Riesling
ースリ ング
Chardonnay
シャルド ネ
甲州Koshu Sauvignon blanc
ソービニヨ ブラン blanc
Sauvignon
ン・
20
20 Semillon
セミ ン
ヨ Chardonnay
Semillon
Brix 15
15 Riesling
x
B ri
Koshu
10
10
Late harvest resulted in
grapes with low amino acids
and low aroma precursors
5
Grapes were grown in 2006 at the
experimental vineyard of Univ. Yamanashi
0
7/2 7/22 8/11 8/31 9/20 10/10 10/30
Date 月日

10. How to improve Koshu wine
1. The Sur Lie method was employed in making Koshu wine.
The contact of wine with yeast lees for more than 5 months
resulted in the wine with high levels of amino acids, fruity and
crispy flavor. [Sato, M. et al., Winemaking from Koshu variety by the sur lie method. Am. J. Enol.
Vitic., 45: 312-318 (1994); 48: 1-6 (1997)]
⇒ Improve the palate (UMAMI)
2. Fermentation in a small oak barrel gives the wine richness
with vanillin and oak flavor. This is another typical type of
Koshu wine. (Oak flavor and vanillin may increase UMAMI.)
3. Recently, Dr. Tominaga, University of Bordeaux, found thiol
aromas (3-mercaptohexane-1-ol, 3MH) in Koshu grapes
(2004), and developed wine with aromas of grapefruits and
passion fruits.⇒Early harvest is good for the aromas.
4. We selected a wine yeast for Koshu wine⇒Uvafern 228
[Hisamoto, M., Sato, M. et al. Phenolic Off Flavor Characterization of Commercially Available Wine Yeasts
and Selection of the Yeast for Koshu Winemaking. J. ASEV Jpn., 21, 112-119 (2010)

11. Red wine (Japan specific)
Muscat Bailey A
Hybrid （Bailey×Muscat
Hamburg） grape made by
Zembei Kawakami (1862-
1944)
Muscat Bailey A has purple
skin color and shows sugars
up to 21 to 22ºBrix at the mid
September. As it has good
acidity and dense taste, the
grapes are consumed as a
table grape and used for
winemaking. The grape has
No. 1 position in making
domestic red wine in Japan.

12. Wine, Muscat Bailey A
The Muscat Bailey A wine has reddish
purple color, special sweet aromas,
moderate acids, and gentle tannin.
The balance of fine tannin and pleasant
fruit taste such as black currant and
dark cherry is excellent. The taste and
aromas show a little similar to Gamay
wine.
The relatively light and delicate taste
shows good pairing with Japanese
dishes having a little heavy taste, such
as red meat, oily fish, sukiyaki, etc.

13. Conclusions
1. Various types of white and red wine are enjoyed with many Western,
Asian, and Japanese style cuisines in Japan. It may be internationally
the same by the globalizations. Generally speaking, wines with good
balance, palate (Umami) and a reasonable price are preferred.
2. Traditional Japanese cuisine has a delicate Umami taste, and Japan
specific white wine, Koshu shows an excellent pairing with those dishes.
Also, the Muscat Bailey A exhibits good pairing with a little heavy
Japanese dishes.
3. The Umami is a basal taste for Japanese, and good Japanese wine has
a delicate Umami taste. The typical example is Koshu sur lie.
4. There is almost no scientific research on the wine’s Umami, but the
Umami of wine might be derived from complex balance of amino acids,
organic acids and tannins (palate). Aging may increase the Umami in
wine because of the enhancement of smoothness (mouthfeel).
5. I recommend you to enjoy wines of Koshu and Muscat Bailey A along
with Japanese tasty dishes. You can find excellent matching of wine
and Japanese food, I hope.

14. Thank you for
your attention!!