Wine is often seen as a complex and intimidating world, but it does not have to be.
Forbes Japan Wine Columnist Aya Mizukami has released her highly anticipated book, The World Map of Wine. Written in Japanese, it is a fresh and accessible guide designed to turn wine lists from “spells” into “invitations” to explore new worlds.
Mizukami’s journey to becoming a leading wine journalist is itself a story of passion and discovery.
She started as a regular office worker with no particular wine background. Her love for wine began in her mid-20s with a simple German white wine from a supermarket.
A few years later, a 500-yen wine seminar in Tokyo’s Omotesando district sparked a life-changing fascination. This initial curiosity quickly grew into a full-time career, leading her to earn the WSET Level 4 Diploma—a qualification which, while less widely known than the sommelier certification, is held by only about 200 people in Japan (as of the end of April 2026)—and becoming the Wine Columnist for Forbes Japan.
Aya Mizukami with Christian Seely, Managing Director of AXA Millésimes. Photographed at Chateau Pichon Baron during Great Bordeaux Tour VIII on 23 November 2025.
Aya Mizukami with Pierre Lurton, President of Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau d’Yquem. Photographed at Chateau d’Yquem during Great Bordeaux Tour VIII on 25 November 2025.
Aya Mizukami with ZHANG Hui Ning, Chief Winemaker of Chateau Rongzi Shanxi. Photographed at Chinese Wine Tasting Plus Yokohama 14 April 2025.
In The World Map of Wine, Mizukami shares the key insight she gained through years of travel and study—wine is not just a beverage but a “drinkable world map”.
Rather than focusing on memorising grape percentages or famous chateaux, she believes that the real key to enjoying wine is understanding its connection to geography, history, economics, and culture.
The World Map of Wine explores intriguing questions such as:
- Why does the taste and price of wine change dramatically across just a “single road” or a “national border”?
- Why has the United Kingdom remained the “centre of the wine economy” even during times when it produced almost no wine?
- Why has China’s “desertifying inland region” transformed into a popular and renowned wine-producing area?
The book is structured as a journey through 15 distinct wine regions, starting not in traditional France but in the United States. Aya Mizukami explains that America represents the “democratisation” of wine, freeing drinkers from complex rules. From there, the journey moves to the classic European regions of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, then onward to the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, South America, South Africa, Georgia, Greece, and the historic Silk Road regions—including Iran, Uzbekistan, and China—before finally returning to Japan.
Each chapter concludes with a curated selection of recommended wines under 10,000 yen (approx. US$61), demonstrating that true wine appreciation does not require expensive bottles.
When you finish this book, restaurant wine lists will no longer be intimidating but will become invitations to explore the cultures and stories behind every bottle. As Aya Mizukami writes in her closing remarks: “When you finish reading this book, the wine list at a restaurant should no longer be a ‘spell,’ but an ‘invitation’ to an unknown world.”
The book is now available at major bookstores across Japan, as well as on Amazon in both print and Kindle formats: https://amzn.asia/d/05dh8cBo.
