our task Katsunuma winery

<Our Task>

We always live close to the vineyards and spend time together with the Koshu grape trees coexisting with the nature of Katsunuma. In this environment, our most important consideration is to improve the variety of Koshu grapes that have been developed into table grapes and restore it to an original breed which has high potential for wine production. There are three challenges in front of us:

First, although Katsunuma is favored with a climate which is great for vine culture, the soil there tends to be too fertile for growing grapes for the wine. We believe that the grapes which struggle to grow in the severe soil conditions concentrate their nutrients into each grain. In light of this, we dared to place Koshu grape trees in this severe environment and it became possible to grow high quality Koshu grapes which reflect the individuality of our land.

Second, while continuing the tradition of "Tanashiki saibai(trellis-type cultivation)", from the viewpoint of growing Koshu grapes for wine making, we reduced the number of bunches borne by one grape tree as much as possible and narrowed the room between the bunches so that the nutrient stored in each grain fruit will increase.

Third, we work hard on cloning Koshu grapes for wine.
Up to now, cloning the tree whose potential for wine making was maximized by our efforts has enabled us to harvest Koshu grapes which have given further potential to the following generation of the cloned tree. We also eye the possibility for mutation through seedling as a part of our pursuit for higher quality grape trees

"Tanashiki saibai(trellis-type cultivation)", which dates back to ancient times in Japan and is based on Katsunuma's climate and soil property, is essential for growing healthy Koshu grapes. While we pay due respect to this old method, we always attempt to grow higher quality grapes through adopting different methods in pruning and training for table grapes, and increasing the exposure of the grapes to the sun and improving the bunch and grain picking methods.

In the fermentation process we only use Koshu grapes, and by brewing the frozen fruit juice without any food additives, including sugar or acid in order to extract the grapes' own characteristic taste, we succeeded in the long term fermentation and aging of the wine in barrels of the Koshu grapes which were previously said to be unsuitable for long term fermentation.
Through these new methods, we are now able to produce wine with a richer body.
However, this is not our ultimate goal. We clearly recognize that we are just at the starting point for pursuing the ideal Koshu grapes for wine.