A recent survey from the brewer Kirin and their subsiduary the wine maker Mercian looked at Japanese wine consumption.
Before reading this survey, I was under the impression that most Japanese wine was made on an industrial scale with imported grapes, and that even Mercian was one of these fake wines, and any local wines was very niche and difficult to get hold of. I’ve now had my interest piqued, so I’ll maybe hunt some out. However, the only wine I drink is Saizeriya’s 100 yen gut-rot special (interestingly, they are the largest importer of Italian wine, it seems!) and whatever wine ends up on the all-you-can-drink menu at work booze-ups.
Here’s a random bottle of Japanese wine:
Research results
Q1: Have you ever drunk Japanese wine? (Sample size=800)
Q1SQ1: Why did you choose Japanese wine to drink? (Sample size=710, multiple answer, top eight)
| Delicious |
38.3% |
| Easy to drink |
37.2% |
| Want to support the growing area |
23.9% |
| Want to support Japanese wine |
23.8% |
| Feels close to me |
19.7% |
| Goes well even with food |
16.5% |
| Chose without feeling pretensious |
13.0% |
| Feel it’s got good cost/performance |
12.4% |
Q1SQ2: How do you feel when you drink Japanese wine? (Sample size=710, multiple answer)
| |
Feeling |
Feel most |
| Fruity nose stands out |
51.8% |
16.8% |
| Easy to drink |
39.4% |
14.4% |
| Rich fruitiness |
37.5% |
10.6% |
| Freshness |
31.8% |
7.2% |
| Suits the Japanese palate |
25.5% |
6.2% |
| Light taste |
24.8% |
5.6% |
| Soft taste |
24.2% |
6.3% |
| Taste one can’t get in foreign wines |
23.7% |
8.9% |
| Complex taste |
17.6% |
3.4% |
| Goes with lots of foods |
13.4% |
1.4% |
| Good match for Japanese food |
13.4% |
2.3% |
| Goes well with Japanese seasoning |
13.0% |
2.7% |
| Other |
2.7% |
2.3% |
| Nothing in particular |
12.1% |
12.1% |
Q1SQ3: Have your opportunities to drink Japanese wine increased in the last two or three years? (Sample size=710, multiple answer)
| |
Increased |
Somewhat increased |
Somewhat decreased |
Decreased |
Not really changed |
| At restaurants |
4.9% |
16.8% |
6.1% |
7.2% |
65.1% |
| At home |
9.2% |
20.4% |
8.3% |
8.9% |
53.2% |
| Overall |
7.6% |
22.4% |
8.2% |
9.4% |
52.4% |
Q1SQ4: Why don’t you drink Japanese wine? (Sample size=90, multiple answer, top five)
| |
Reason |
Strongest reason |
| Don’t know how to choose |
21.1% |
10.0% |
| Don’t know where I can drink it |
18.9% |
13.3% |
| Few places, don’t know which places stock it |
15.6% |
7.8% |
| Expensive |
14.4% |
11.1% |
| Didn’t knew it existed |
14.4% |
11.1% |
Q1SQ5: Would you like to try Japanese wine? (Sample size=90)
| Yes |
33.3% |
| Perhaps |
45.6% |
| Perhaps not |
16.7% |
| Not at all |
4.4% |
Q2: In the future, when might you want to drink Japanese wine? (Sample size=800, multiple answer)
| At home with food, after returning from work |
36.4% |
| At home, visiting friends, other ordinary location with friends, family |
13.4% |
| No particular place event, just when I feel like it |
31.5% |
| When going out for a meal with friends, family, to enjoy with food |
24.9% |
| When I want to chill out by myself |
21.6% |
| To celebrate an anniversary, birthday, etc |
21.0% |
| At a wine bar |
20.4% |
| When having a good time with friends |
16.5% |
| When I want to forget some depressing issue, and cheer myself up to face the next day |
5.4% |
| Other |
1.6% |
| None of the above, don’t want to drink |
11.6% |
Q3: In the future, what kind of foods might you want to drink Japanese wine with? (Sample size=800, multiple answer)
| Japanese speciality restaurant |
48.9% |
| Italian full course |
43.5% |
| Everyday food at home |
43.1% |
| French full course |
38.0% |
| Japanese or Western sweets |
12.3% |
| Ethnic food |
8.8% |
| Chinese |
8.0% |
| Rice bowl |
6.1% |
| Other |
6.4% |
Q4: What do you think about the following statements regarding Japanese wine? (Sample size=800, multiple answer)
| |
Agree |
Somewhat agree |
Somewhat disagree |
Disagree |
| Japanese wine quality is improving every year |
22.0% |
58.8% |
14.1% |
5.1% |
| If I have more chances to drink Japanese wine I’ll like it more |
19.3% |
60.0% |
14.9% |
5.9% |
| Even if it’s a bit more expensive, I want to choose, try Japanese wine |
11.1% |
41.1% |
34.4% |
13.4% |
Demographics
Between the 17th and 21st of March 2017 800 people aged twenty or older, 50:50 male and female, completed an internet-based questionnaire. All the people in the sample were preselected to be all people who are wine drinkers and have drunk alcohol at least once either at home or at restaurants, etc in the last three months.
