Japan Winery Map

Know the grapes

Black Queenブラック・クイーン

Wineries growing it
12
Awards
33
Years with awards
2006–2026

Usually makes a deeply coloured, firmly structured red wine with pronounced acidity.

Black Queen is a Japanese black grape bred by Zenbei Kawakami at Iwanohara Vineyard in Niigata, the same nursery that produced Muscat Bailey A. As the name suggests, the skins are richly pigmented, giving wines a dark, almost black hue, and the acidity is often marked. It is bottled on its own but is also frequently blended with grapes such as Muscat Bailey A to add colour and acidity, and it is used by wineries in Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata. Because the acidity and astringency are pronounced, it is often served with meat dishes or tomato-based cooking.

Japan (Niigata)deep colourfirm aciditydark fruitnoticeable tannins

Notes on aroma and taste describe general tendencies for this grape, not claims about any particular wine — the actual character depends on the producer and how it is made.

For this grape we have not yet confirmed a primary source for its origin or growing regions. (Winery entries always carry a source and the date it was checked.)

Black Queen at the Japan Wine Competition

33 awards in the published results carry “Black Queen” in the entry name, across 9 wineries and 16 years. These are read from the entry names, not from declared grape composition, so wines whose names do not mention the grape are not included.

  • Gold 1
  • Silver 5
  • Bronze 19
  • Encouragement 6

Wineries with the most awards

Ordered by how many awards we list. Producers differ in how many wines they entered and in how many years they entered, so this is not a ranking of quality.

Wines that have won more than once

Grouped by producer and wine, showing those with three or more awards. Names come from the published entry names, with the vintage removed because each row spans several vintages.

By year

Wineries growing Black Queen

12 listed wineries are recorded by their sources as growing this grape.