The small Japanese town of Aomori in northern Japan is branching out to produce rose wine made with watermelons grown here. Characterized by its refreshing sweetness, the watermelon wine is suitable as an aperitif or as a dessert beverage. The town’s tourist association has commissioned Sun Mamoru Winery Inc. to produce the wine at its second plant in Owani, also in the prefecture, since the last business year that started in April 2021.
In the business year starting in April 2020, 1,728 tons of watermelons were harvested in the town, accounting for about 20 percent of all watermelons harvested in the prefecture. A watermelon variety called Benimakura is used for wine-making. According to the winery, it initially aimed to produce a wine only with watermelons. But it retained the grassy smell unique to the cucurbitaceous plant when it was fermented.
