The word "kabocha" refers to a winter squash or Japanese pumpkin, (similar in many ways to a butternut squash). It is known to be both very sweet and tasty, but also large in size.
Mitsuru Miura came up with the title "Pumpkin Wine" after hearing the phrase "Pumpkin is good for the body" on TV.
Creator Mitsuru Miura based Shunsuke Aoba on himself: in school he was generally shorter than everyone and had an attraction to taller girls than himself.
Based on a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Miura. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shounen Magazine from 1981 to 1984. The Kabocha Wine received the 1983 Kodansha Manga Award for the Shounen category.