Japan has two major "native" wine grape varietals – Muscat Bailey A and Koshu. However, this is a bit misleading and this is why there are quotation marks around the word "native." These grapes aren't actually indigenous to Japan but were developed in Japan from vitis vinifera grapes. Vitis vinifera is the grape species from which most of the world's wine comes, from the valleys of France to the mountains of Japan.
The Birth of the Wine Grape
We're not exactly sure where vitis vinifera originates, but its cultivation probably began in Asia Minor, most likely in the area around the Caucasus Mountains. The archaeological records are spotty, but the wine grape's cultivation probably goes back about 7,000 years.
The grape spreads like wildfire, first through Egypt and Northern Africa, and then settling in Europe where conditions for its growth were particularly ideal. There in Europe it stayed for centuries and only in recent times with the settling of Europeans' spread to the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere has it moved on from there.
Vitis Vinifera Today
Today, vitis vinifera grapes grow wherever the climate is favorable, whether in Europe、Africa or Australia.
In Europe, it is grown in the central and southern areas. It's still grown in Asia Minor, as well as the Middle East and parts of China. Africa grows this grape at its northernmost area on the Mediterranean and at the southern tip of South Africa. It grows in scattered areas of North America, South America and even Oceania.
Of the between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties grown worldwide, only a tiny percentage yields grapes suitable for producing wine. This just shows you how carefully this grape has been cultivated over the centuries.
In Japan, vitis vinifera varieties are at the heart of its two major indigenous grapes, which are blends.