Just like in Europe! Vertical shoot positioning viticulture is very rare in Japan.
Nakata interviewed Haruo Omura, the Representative director of ”Marufuji Winery”, which is an establishment with 120 years of history. He spoke in a quiet and calm tone, but his passion towards wine making could be felt very keenly.
”When I came back from France, I was worried about the future of winemaking in Japan. Cheap and good wines were pouring in from abroad. Not only wine, but grapes and grape juice for making wine as well. Under such situation, I really wanted to make wine all by ourselves.”
The wine made in Marufuji Winery uses 100% domestically produced grapes. However, there has been a great deal of trial and error to reach this state. ”At the beginning, we had not yet tried the vertical shoot positioning (VSP) cultivation. I thought it was not suitable for Japanese climate. It rains too much. But we built a rain shelter, and we tried many other things, until we were able to make Chardonnay with the VSP. There is still a room for improvement, though.”
In Europe, the vines are grown by training the shoots against a fence-like structure. However, in Japan where there is much rain and the humidity is high, it is common to use pergola system and let the shoots grow overhead. Omura made covers and gutters to avoid rain, and made VSP possible in Japan.
Wine making with passion that young sommeliers come to learn.
Marufuji Winery is well known among wine connoisseurs for its history and accomplishments. It has its particulars. Nakata reacted to one label of wine, and Omura said, ”That one reflects my thinking. The recent trend of Japanese white wine is clean taste, but I want to make something rich and full bodied, even if the looks of the wine is cloudy. .”
”I like the full bodied wine, so I think this one is really good,” agreed Nakata.
Omura is also studying yeasts, and other scientific side of wine-making. His passion towards wine-making is known throughout Japan, and young sommeliers come study under him. The winery is pursuing to make even more delicious wine.
