From 4 to 12 March, 18 graduate students and four faculty from the Institute of Higher Education of Viticulture and Enology (IHEV) at Montpellier SupAgro, France, visited Japan to take part in a wine business study tour hosted by the Graduate School of Agriculture (GSA). The tour was part of the international exchange/fieldwork course in Wine Business Strategy, one of GSA's Short-term Student Exchange Programs for the Global Future of Life, Food, and the Environment.
On the first day, the group attended a special seminar on Japanese viticulture and enology, organized in association with the western division of the Japan Chapter of American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV-J), actively exchanging knowledge with the speakers.
The second day featured a courtesy visit to the Kyoto Prefectural Government, which had signed a sister-relationship agreement with the French region of Occitanie (formerly Languedoc-Roussillon).
The group spent the remainder of the program on field trips -- visiting Tamba Winery, Amano-hashidate Winery, Horiba Ltd, the Institute of Enology and Viticulture at the University of Yamanashi, Shichiken Sake Brewery, Château Mercian, Tsuji Culinary Institute, and Katashimo Winery -- not only learning about viticulture and winemaking under Japan's unique climatic conditions, but also experiencing the country's distinctive wines, sake, and cuisine.
The participants also had opportunities to meet and develop friendships with KU students who had visited Montpellier SupAgro last summer as part of the Wine Business Strategy course.
Courtesy visit to the Kyoto Prefectural Government
During the ASEV-J seminar
Learning about Japan's viticulture
At Shichiken Sake Brewery
Final presentations
At Horiba Ltd
