TOKYO, Sept. 18 — The Japan Gibier Promotion Association and major Japanese wine maker Mercian Corporation announced that they have launched a joint project to promote Japan’s wild game cuisine and wine made from domestically-grown grapes.
The tastes of wine change according to terroir — the combination of natural factors like soil and climate — and the same is true for game meat, whose taste is significantly affected by the environment where the animals grow up.
They plan to focus on the impact of terroir on their flavor to boost consumption of Japanese gibier and wine.
According to the agriculture ministry, the number of deer and wild boars captured in Japan has been increasing, reaching 1.24 million in fiscal 2023.
They are caught mainly to prevent wildlife damage to crops and only about 10% of them are consumed as game meat.
“The value of gibier won’t be conveyed if we eat them just because it’s a waste to throw them away,” said Norihiko Fujiki, head of the promotion association who runs a wild game restaurant in Chino, Nagano Prefecture.
“We want to boost consumption by highlighting the good taste of gibier,” he said, adding that terroir — factors such as where and during which season the animals are captured and what they feed on — directly impact their taste.
Mitsuhiro Anzo, a Mercian official in charge of product development, said, “Both gibier and Japanese wine are greatly affected by terroir.”
The flavor of Japanese wine, even those made from the same grape variety and with the same aging period, varies if they are made from grapes grown in different soil or altitudes.
Only 5% of wine distributed and consumed in Japan are made from domestically-harvested grapes. They plan to organize dining events to offer a variety of Japanese wine and game pairings in order to increase consumption of both.
Norihiko Fujiki (left), head of the Japan Gibier Promotion Association, and Mercian Corporation’s Mitsuhiro Anzo show a steak dish made of a backstrap of deer that grew up in the Yatsugatake Mountains on the border of Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures, and Japanese wine Chateau Mercian Mariko Merlot, in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward.