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It's easy to say "wine" in Japanese. It's pronounced the same as in English. That, along with Japan's increased interest in imported wines, makes it possible for Cave Junction producer Ted Gerber to sell thousands of cases across the Pacific. Last year, Gerber, who owns Foris Vineyards and is one of the state's largest producers, received emails from Mottox wine distributors that he thought were spam. After checking with his sales and marketing director, Julianne Allen, he learned that Mottox was the fifth-largest wine distributor in Japan and its New World wine buyer was interested in his $30 Maple Ranch pinot noir. A deal was made to sell the Foris label and more. Instead of selling off his excess riesling and gewurztraminer wine as bulk here, he developed another label, Swallow, and has since shipped three containers of both brands to Japan. "It just fell into my lap," Gerber said this week, still slightly dazed by his good fortune. Gerber may be the only one to get a distribution deal in Japan without a lot of effort. But he's not the only one expanding sales into Japan. This week, the Oregon Wine Board and 22 Oregon wineries — Foris from the Illinois Valley and others from the Willamette Valley — are participating in a multi-day trade and consumer tasting in Tokyo. Called the Enjoy Oregon Wine Fair, the biennial promotion is funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Market Access Program. Events in restaurants and retail stores will potentially expose 350 Japanese sommeliers and countless Japanese consumers to more Oregon pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay. Katie Bray, the Oregon Wine Board's director of global marketing and education, said Japan is a sophisticated market and consumers like to hear about specific appelation, winemaking styles and cellar regimes. "Oregon has all that data," she said. Information on Oregon's various soils, geography and farming practices is posted on a webpage, http://japan.oregonwine.org, dedicated to Japanese readers. The agency's efforts to promote Oregon wine in Japan since 2005 have established that country as one of the top three importers along with Canada and the United Kingdom. The majority of the exported wine is Willamette Valley pinot noir. Patrick Mayer, global trade and compliance manager for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said, "Japan is a global crossroads market. A wine featured in a restaurant in Toyko can help sell that wine anywhere in the world." For a long time, the perception from Oregon was that exporting to Asia was too complicated, that the demand wasn't there and that the market would not be receptive, said Michael Donovan, president of the Oregon Wine Board. "But we're finding that it's not that complicated," he said. "Awareness has really grown because we have taken the time to work these markets and tell our story about our soil and sustainable farming and that our wine is very compatible with food." Donovan, who also is director of national sales and marketing for RoxyAnn Winery, said more Oregon wineries could benefit from exporting, even though it takes research to know what the market needs and to find the right distributor. "The Asian market holds tremendous promise for sales outside of Oregon for all of our regions," said Donovan. On Monday, Gerber of Foris Vineyards was hosting the top five wine salespeople from Mottox and the company's buyer in charge of New World wine, Takako Osawa, for an overnight stay before they caught a flight out of Medford Tuesday on their way to Santiago, Chile. "We have a short window to get them to know us as farmers and a family," said Gerber, standing in front of rows of pruned pinot noir vines. He also would take them to see the bottling room with its new screw-top equipment, barrel rooms and lab. This is the first time he has hosted salespeople outside the U.S., where his wine is sold in 38 states. Gerber said he sells 25,000 cases of Foris and Swallow wine a year and makes or sells juice equivalent to an additional 40,000 cases for clients including A to Z Wineworks. The 1,860 cases he has sold to Japan since May are not significant in number, but in prospective growth. "I want to make sure you know that we won't run out of wine," Gerber said to the salespeople as they all stood inside one of his wine storage rooms. Pallets — each holding 56 cases of Foris or Swallow wine — were stacked end to end, and to the ceiling. "One of the airlines wants two to three pallets," said Mottox's Osawa, before writing another note in her account book. Reach reporter Janet Eastman at 541-776-4465 or [email protected]