The world's biggest natural wine festival returns to Tokyo

Japan Times

09-05-2025

Returning for its second edition, Raw Wine Tokyo will be held at Ota City's Tokyo Ryutsu Center from May 10 to 11.
The annual natural wine festival will feature more than 80 natural wine producers from around the world, including 11 Japanese wineries.
The response to last year's edition, which was held at Shinagawa's B&C Hall, was very positive, with a turnout of 2,400 guests, according to Tomomi Manton, Raw Wine Tokyo's public relations representative.
'Visitors came mostly from Japan, but we also had some international wine trade professionals from neighboring countries such as South Korea, China, Thailand, the Philippines, as well as the U.S. and Canada,' says Manton.
'The winemakers also love traveling to Japan to experience the vibrant natural wine scene here and the exceptional food offerings,' she continues, adding that this year's venue has doubled in size, from 1,100 square meters last year to 2,000 square meters.
Since its first edition in London in 2012, Raw Wine has grown internationally, taking its event to major cities with a vibrant natural wine scene. |
RAW WINE TOKYO
Since its first edition in London in 2012, Raw Wine has expanded its brand internationally, running the event in major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Paris. The festival is the brainchild of Isabelle Legeron, a Master of Wine who is determined to spread the word of natural winemaking.
Natural winemaking, in which wines are made with as little intervention as possible, oftentimes without any filtration and sometimes without any preservatives like sulfites, has always polarized drinkers. Proponents say that it is the purest, most untainted form of winemaking, while opponents argue that the hands-off approach can sometimes result in wines that taste spoiled or 'funky.'
This debate hasn't stopped the trend from growing, as natural wine bars and festivals continue to pop up in dining capitals around the world. Raw Wine, however, remains the biggest natural wine festival to date.
To participate in Raw Wine, winemakers have to satisfy a set of criteria established by Legeron: The grapes must be cultivated using organic farming methods, and vinification should be done with minimal intervention. Wine producers also have to complete a questionnaire about their winemaking methods and submit their wine analysis data as well as wine samples for tasting.
Some of the natural wine producers participating in this year's Raw Wine Tokyo include Le Clos des Quarterons (Loire Valley, France), a farm known for its fresh, minerally cabernet franc; Poggio Cagnano (Tuscany, Italy), an up-and-coming winery making wines from sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot; and Roberto Henriquez (Bio Bio Valley, Chile), a winemaker who makes wines from vines over a 100 years old.
The event will also showcase 11 Japanese natural wineries — part of a small but growing number of wine producers who are defying the odds to make natural wine in Japan. |
RAW WINE TOKYO
Many of the 11 Japanese wineries are new to this year's event. They include Shindo Wines from Fukuoka Prefecture, Sawauchi from Aomori Prefecture, and Natan Winery from Tokushima Prefecture — young wineries that have boldly taken on the challenge of making natural wine in a country known for its difficult grape-growing conditions.
The event will also feature six sake breweries who are making sake from organic rice, such as Fukumitsuya from Ishikawa Prefecture, Niida Honke from Fukushima Prefecture, and Terada Honke from Chiba Prefecture.
According to Manton, their inclusion in the event is important because of their similar modus operandi. '(The sake brewers and natural wineries) rely on clean agriculture and natural fermentation to produce a drink that is alive and representative of their terroir,' she says.
For the wine geeks, there will also be wine seminars to attend — one of them, 'Why Old Vines Matter,' will be conducted in English by Smallfry Wines (Barossa Valley, Australia), Chateau La Baronne (Languedoc, France), Agricola Yumbel Estacion (Bío Bío Valley, Chile) and moderated by Legeron.
Raw Wine Tokyo; Tokyo Ryutsu Center, Hall F, 6-1-1 Heiwajima, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-0006; 10 p.m - 6 p.m; ¥9,000 for public, ¥7,000 for trade/industry members. For more information, visit rawwine.com/fairs/tokyo-2025