Last week we wrote about an MBA from Suntory. This week we present an entirely different MBA for your juxtaposition. We would also like to say,
We stopped in at this Gunma-ken winery a couple of months ago. We didn’t have much time, and they didn’t have a tasting room. Some bottles of Muscat Bailey-A caught our eye, as they normally do, and we made a split second decision to go for the one labeled “sweet,” as opposed to its dry counterpart. This proved to be a mistake.
The nose here is of medium intensity, and the primary characteristic is that of grape, grape, and more grape. On the palate there is even more grape, quite a bit of sweetness, and a light body, owing to its somewhat low alcohol content, 12% abv. The finish is short. This is an exceedingly simple wine. It reminded us of base wine that one might use for mulling, one dimensional before the spices have been added. Perhaps that is the best way to consume this—as a hot beverage containing cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, etc. Maybe we should have opted for the dry version. That might have proven better. We were, however, struck by the label: it was plain, yet appealing, and the paper seemed of high quality, but the Roman-letter version of the varietal read “Muscat Berry-A.”
Note: A more favorable review of a Miyama product appears on this blog. See the entry here.
Drinking Japan 