Viñátigo Wines in Japan: Canary Island Grape Varieties at Mizushin Saikan
Journalist Ikumi Harada recounts a dinner at Mizushin Saikan in the Japanese publication LOHASPAIN, exploring how Canary Island grape varieties complemented the umami, textures and flavours of Chinese cuisine.
Listán Blanco with xiaolongbao, Maipé de Taganana with abalone in a creamy sauce, and Listán Negro with miso stir-fried beef. These three pairings form the backbone of LOHASPAIN’s feature on Bodegas Viñátigo. The Japanese digital publication is affiliated with the Asociación de Gastronomía Española en Japón and focuses on sharing knowledge of Spanish wine, gastronomy and culture.
Published on 9 October 2026 in its Aromas section, the article revisits a dinner held in April 2025 at Mizushin Saikan, in Tokyo’s Asakusabashi neighbourhood. Its author, Ikumi Harada, is a journalist and creative director specialising in Spanish wine and gastronomy, and co-founder of the Asociación de Gastronomía Española en Japón. She holds the WSET® Level 3 qualification and the ICEX-certified Spanish Wine Specialist credential.
In her account, Harada explores Viñátigo’s work with indigenous grape varieties and describes how its wines accompanied dishes prepared by chef Shogo Kitahara, with the wine selection curated by sommelier Yasuyuki Terada.
We share the full article below in an English translation based on the revised Spanish version, preserving the author’s meaning and voice.
Mizushin Saikan and Viñátigo: a delicious meeting of neighbourhood Chinese cooking and wines from the volcanic island of Tenerife
By Ikumi HaradaPublished in LOHASPAIN · Aromas section · 9 October 2026
Close to Asakusabashi Station, beneath a red sign where customers are always waiting, stands Mizushin Saikan, a long-established neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. Its origins date back to 1897, when Shinjiro Terada opened a fruit shop called Mizushin. After successive incarnations as a fruit-based refreshments parlour and a café, the business became a Chinese restaurant in 1974 under Noriyuki Terada, the fourth generation of the family.
Ever since, specialities such as its celebrated stir-fried noodles with assorted ingredients and a thick sauce, together with consistently good cooking and a warm welcome, have earned it a place in the affections of local residents.
The restaurant is led by Noriyuki Terada, his son and sommelier Yasuyuki Terada, and head chef Shogo Kitahara. The owner’s warmth and charisma, the sommelier’s extensive wine knowledge and attentive service, and the chef’s craftsmanship give this establishment its distinctive character.
In April 2025, Mizushin Saikan hosted a dinner with the winemaking family behind Bodegas Viñátigo, from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Chinese cooking from a traditional Tokyo neighbourhood met wines from a volcanic island in the Atlantic. What might initially have seemed an unexpected combination revealed new dimensions in both the dishes and the wines. Conversation flowed naturally among the guests gathered around the winemakers. Beyond the discoveries at the table, the evening left a lasting impression of food bringing people together.
Viñátigo: preserving indigenous grape varieties for the future
Bodegas Viñátigo is a family-owned winery based in La Guancha, in northern Tenerife. Its founder, Juan Jesús Méndez, has spent many years researching and conserving the grape varieties that have survived in the Canary Islands, drawing on scientific knowledge.
His wife, María Elena Batista, also a winemaker, oversees quality control. Their son, Jorge Méndez, represents the next generation as both a winegrower and winemaker, with work that is attracting attention in Spain and abroad.
Volcanic soils and the 83 indigenous grape varieties preserved across the islands are two defining features of Canary Island viticulture. While phylloxera devastated many European wine regions, the archipelago remained unaffected for a long period, allowing old, ungrafted vines to survive.
Viñátigo grows 13 varieties—six white and seven red—including Listán Blanco and Listán Negro. Through its wines, it seeks to express both the character of each variety and the distinctive qualities of the place where it grows.
Footage of the winery and vineyards was also shown during the dinner. Learning about the island’s environment, its growing conditions and the work of its winemakers offered a deeper understanding of the Tenerife landscape behind each glass.
The umami of Chinese cuisine and the character of volcanic wines
Throughout the evening, we enjoyed Viñátigo wines selected by sommelier Terada alongside dishes prepared by chef Kitahara. Wines such as Listán Blanco and Listán Negro, which express Tenerife’s distinctive character, revealed different affinities with each dish. Course by course, we explored the possibilities of pairing the island’s wines with Chinese cuisine.
Xiaolongbao with Viñátigo Listán Blanco 2024
The owner discovered this speciality in Hong Kong and soon added it to his menu. It remains one of the dishes closest to his heart. Breaking through the delicate wrapper releases a piping-hot broth rich in the flavour of pork.
It was paired with a wine made from Listán Blanco, one of the Canary Islands’ most representative white grape varieties. Its lively acidity and mineral character, evocative of the volcanic island’s terroir, balance the richness of the pork and the intensity of its umami.
The wine complements the lingering flavours of the xiaolongbao and refreshes the palate for the next bite.
Abalone in a creamy sauce with Maipé de Taganana 2023
A dish of considerable depth, combining the sauce’s creamy texture with the delicate yet intense flavour of abalone. The chosen wine was Maipé de Taganana, a white from a single vineyard of ungrafted vines.
Old-vine Listán Blanco brings a complexity that goes beyond fruit expression. The wine’s nuances integrate with the smoothness of the sauce and enhance the abalone’s umami.
Its balance was particularly memorable: it matched the richness of the dish while bringing freshness and precision to the finish.
Miso stir-fried beef strips wrapped in thin pancakes with Viñátigo Listán Negro 2023
Beef, cut into strips and stir-fried with a special sweet and savoury miso preparation, is served wrapped in thin pancakes. It was accompanied by a red wine made from Listán Negro, one of the Canary Islands’ most representative grape varieties.
Its fruit character, together with spicy and smoky nuances, found an affinity with the depth of the miso and the umami of the beef.
The wine complemented the dish without overpowering it: each retained its identity while enhancing the other.
Hospitality that makes you want to return
The evening brought together excellent cooking and a selection of distinctive wines full of character. The pairings revealed new nuances in both the dishes and the glasses.
Yet what made the evening especially memorable was the connection between people. The owner’s smile and lively, easy-going conversation created a welcoming atmosphere. Around the winemaking family, conversation among the guests flowed spontaneously.
The harmony between sommelier Terada’s service and chef Kitahara’s cooking allowed the pleasure of tasting wine to extend into the pleasure of conversation and sharing.
A video was also shown of Sara Utsumi, representing Sara Corporation, taking part in the harvest in Tenerife. Scenes of work in the vineyard brought guests closer to the realities of making wine in direct contact with the natural environment of a volcanic island.
Viñátigo’s wines acquire greater depth as their context becomes better understood: the character of the land, its history, its climate and the philosophy of those who make them.
By sharing that context through her own experience, Utsumi helped bring the landscape behind each glass closer to us. The evening took us from tasting wine to understanding the place it comes from.
Another attraction: the Mizushin Hanare Hong wine bar
Next door to Mizushin Saikan is another of its attractions: the Mizushin Hanare Hong wine bar.
Opened in September 2018, this establishment, owned and run by sommelier Yasuyuki Terada, offers a space where wine is central to the experience. Its popularity makes securing a reservation difficult.
Each month, Terada chooses a theme and selects around ten wines to serve by the glass. The opportunity to explore wines from different regions of the world without ordering a whole bottle is one of its draws.
Trying a grape variety or an origin that sparks your curiosity, talking to the sommelier and discovering a new wine: this is somewhere to visit either for a glass after enjoying Chinese cuisine or to explore its carefully curated wine selection.
The neighbourhood Chinese cooking of Mizushin Saikan and the wines selected from around the world at Mizushin Hanare Hong give each establishment its own identity, united by the hospitality of father and son.
Beyond the pleasure of food and wine, conversations and unexpected encounters enrich the time we spend at the table—and even life itself. That is how I feel.
Neighbourhood Chinese cooking and wines from around the world in Asakusabashi. There are plenty of reasons to return, time and again.
The establishments
Mizushin Saikan Chinese Restaurant
Address: 2-1-1 Asakusabashi, distrito de Taitō, Tokio.Teléfono: 03-3861-0577.Web: Mizushin Saikan en Tabelog.
Mizushin Hanare Hong
Address: 2-1-1 Asakusabashi, distrito de Taitō, Tokio.Teléfono: 03-5839-2077.Web: mizushin-saikan.com.
About the author
Ikumi Harada · Journalist and Creative Director
A journalist specialising in Spanish wine and gastronomy, she began her career as a designer at an advertising agency, where she developed her creative perspective and strategic thinking.
A period of study in Spain in 2005 sparked her fascination with the country’s wine and food culture. She has been researching and sharing them ever since.
Since 2009, she has been involved in exporting and promoting Spanish wines in Japan and other Asian markets. In 2011, she founded the Asociación de Gastronomía Española en Japón, through which she works to raise awareness of these wines and support the development of their market.
She has been making wine in Priorat since 2012 and released her first vintage in 2024. Since 2025, she has been a member of the organising team of the international Barcelona Wine Test competition.
She holds the WSET® Level 3 qualification and the ICEX-certified Spanish Wine Specialist credential. She is originally from Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Instagram: @ikumiharada.
Original article by Ikumi Harada, published in LOHASPAIN on 9 October 2026. Introduction by Bodegas Viñátigo. English translation based on the stylistically revised Spanish version.
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