It is as if you have wandered into the world of a story book. This is how you feel when you visit the Mongaku Valley Winery. The vineyard was cultivated on the slope of a hill where the breeze passes through, and acorn trees were planted in the surrounding forest. We then had a destined encounter with a 100-year-old traditional Japanese warehouse that was used by the generations of Kimono merchants. It was made of tuff called Sapporo soft stones. The warehouse was carefully relocated and transformed into our winery. In the richly blessed town of Yoichi, Hokkaido, we are a family-owned winery where the whole process from grape growing to wine making is carried out. Our story continues to unfold.
Photo by Ren Kakihara
We grow seven varieties of grapes at the Mongaku Valley Winery. Field blends are a long-standing traditional winemaking approach and are single-vineyard wines made from a mixture of different grapes grown, harvested and vinified together. This natural fermentation, with the diversity of wild yeasts, brings out the complex and delicate aromas and flavours. The wines we are currently making are all field-blended white wines. It is a field blend that we love. In the future, it is our dream to bring you authentic sparkling wines made from our grapes.
We grow seven varieties of grapes at the Mongaku Valley Winery. Field blends are a long-standing traditional winemaking approach and are single-vineyard wines made from a mixture of different grapes grown, harvested and vinified together. This natural fermentation, with the diversity of wild yeasts, brings out the complex and delicate aromas and flavours. The wines we are currently making are all field-blended white wines. It is a field blend that we love. In the future, it is our dream to bring you authentic sparkling wines made from our grapes.
The names of the wines, "Tochi (Japanese horse-chestnut)", "Haku (Daimyo Oak) and "Nara (Japanese Oak)" all come from acorn trees. There is a reason why we planted these acorns in the surrounding forest. Acorns are a favourite food for pigs. Pigs will eat the acorns that grow in the Mongaku Valley and the grape pomace after grapes are pressed. This further enriches the land and nurtures our lives. It is a form of a small ecosystem in the Mongaku Valley and a kind of agriculture we aim for. The Year 2021, the tenth year since we moved to Yoichi, is our first year of grazing animals. We are taking the next steps to build the future of Mongaku Valley 30 and 50 years from now. Please look forward to the future of the Mongaku Valley.
Our family is now making wine at the Mongaku Valley Winery, but used to live in big cities. Since we had our first child, we had a growing desire to live in a community where people have face-to-face relationships, and to re-think our relationships with food and our way of living. This eventually led us to move to Yoichi. We grow wine grapes and make wine. Our children run around the fields and hills, play with insects and animals, and harvest wine grapes as a family event. The Kihara family loves the nature more than anything.
When we arrived here for the first time, the Mongaku Valley was left completely uncultivated for many years. We walked the unbeaten path to get to the top of the hill. Once we reached there, we faintly saw the sea beyond a dense and lush forest. We could feel a gentle breeze on our faces. When we looked around, we suddenly realised we were surrounded by the magnificent mountains. The view was simply breathtaking. That was the moment when we fell in love with this beautiful land. We cut the trees by ourselves and built irrigation channels. It took a long time, but we have finally developed this land into the vineyards with the sea view. The region is ideal for winemaking as there is a difference in temperature from the highest to the lowest during the day even in summer and autumn. This promotes the right balance between ripe sugars and crisp acidity. It brings out the best of the grapes in the region with the cool climate and makes the wine produced here tasty.
We want you to enjoy our wine more. We have an on-going plan for the future that enables you to discover Yoichi's beautiful scenery and nature, and to experience our winery by yourself.
Field blends are a long-standing traditional winemaking approach and are single-vineyard wines made from a mixture of different grapes grown, harvested and vinified together. Our filed blends are vinified by mixing multiple varieties from the same vineyard at the beginning of the fermentation process.
What kind of image are you creating?
Our wines are made from a mixture of seven French grape varieties grown in our vineyard, located in a hill. With these in mind, we nurture the three main characteristics of our wines: 1. acidity unique to the cool regions, 2. balanced bitterness, and 3. complex aromas. In addition, we aim to make wine with natural tastes with wild yeasts and without filtration (no clarification).
Why do you make field-blended wines?
One of our goals is to create distinctive, special wines that can only be expressed through field blends. Field blends produce aromatic components that cannot be created by blending after fermentation. Just as in cooking like Japanese soup stock, we believe that there are infinite possibilities for expanding aromas and flavours through the combination of "elements" such as grape varieties and clones.
What kind of circular environment are you trying to achieve?
Pressed grape pomace is fed to grazing animals and their compost is returned to the vineyard. It is a "small cycle" that is created within the 11 hectares of our land. We are aware of a "big cycle" in the region as Yoichi has mountains and the sea, too. We, for example, get local sea urchin shells from local fishermen and spread them to the vineyard in the hope that they nurture our soil and eventually go back to the sea.
What do the names of the wine series mean?
Just as each of the many wines has its own personality, so does each tree. Following the Japanese tradition of naming places and people after trees and other natural objects, we have chosen to name our wines after "trees".
What meaning has in our wine label?
Our wine label comes from a drawing by our daughter which depicts the world of a Japanese story book "Mochimochi no Ki (The Tree of Courage)". We chose this drawing for the label because it synchronises with the image of the Mongaku Valley Field Blend series, where a bottle of wine is created by combining several grape varieties.
