The green and white taxis are lined up outside Katsunuma-Budokyo Station like the stripes on a holiday peppermint stick. I readjust the contents of my daypack after the 90-minute train trip from Tokyo, take out my map, and hop into the back of the first cab in line with my husband in tow. We clue in the driver to our intended destination — Budo no Oka (Grape Hill), a hilltop retreat and prime wine-tasting spot in Yamanashi Prefecture.

"First time?" asks our cabbie as he steers us down the winding road from the station. We acknowledge that it is. Outside the window on this fine, late-autumn day, the last vestiges of gold- and amber-colored leaves cling to the vines that have made this region famous as the so-called Napa Valley of Japan.

We ask what's good here. "Wine!" the driver responds enthusiastically, and we query him on his favorite vineyard. With a laugh, he confesses that he doesn't actually drink, but assures us that Yamanashi's wines are the best in the nation. From what we've heard, both Japanese and foreign experts alike are starting to agree.