Hold on to Japanese wine as a memento (8)
I believe the answer is:
keepsake
'a memento' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'hold on to japanese wine' is the wordplay.
'hold on to' becomes 'keep' ('keep' can be a synonym of 'hold on to').
'japanese wine' becomes 'sake' (I am not sure about the 'japanese' bit.**).
'keep'+'sake'='KEEPSAKE'
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for keepsake that I've seen before include "It serves to keep a person in mind" , "Gift, reminder" , "Thing retained in memory of giver" , "token" , "Something of sentimental value" .)