Manns Wines SOLARIS Series Claim Gold Awards

The SOLARIS series of wines, produced by Manns Wines Co., Ltd., a Kikkoman Group company, won five out of eight possible Gold Awards in the European-style red category at the Japan Wine Competition 2011, held in Yamanashi Prefecture. The SOLARIS Shinshu Higashiyama Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 was presented with the prestigious Best in Class.

The SOLARIS wine series focuses on providing internationally acclaimed wines, and thus are made using high quality, locally grown grapes from central Japan's Nagano Prefecture. Manns Wines relies on grape cultivation and wine-making techniques that it has accumulated over the years.

The SOLARIS Shinshu Higashiyama Cabernet Sauvignon uses cabernet sauvignon grapes from the Higashiyama district in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, a region particularly suited to growing this type of grape. The grape yield is strictly limited and only select grapes of good vintage are used. Utmost care is applied throughout the wine-making process as the wine ages in new oak barrels. The result is one of the world's best red wines, with a distinct personality and international appeal.

The name SOLARIS is taken from the Latin, "of the sun," and as illustrated by the Manns label, grapes are indeed regarded as a gift from the sun. The name SOLARIS concept expresses the Manns Wines approach to ensuring wine quality by using only the finest, sun-ripened grapes. Manns Wines has been instrumental in refining the status of Japanese wines made with Japanese grapes, and will continue to create wines to rival the world's most prestigious wines.