Azucca e Azzuco - Aichi's Only Winery

When Daisuke and Azusa Suzaki begin to sell this season’s wine later this month they will be putting Aichi Prefecture on the winery map.

The husband-and-wife team have toiled for 15 years for this, the first batch of bottles that can truly claim to be Aichi’s first fully locally produced wine.

Four hundred liters, or 539 bottles, will go on sale on Monday, representing 10 percent of this year’s harvest.

“It is light with a fresh taste,” said Daisuke. The estimated price is ¥2,000 per bottle.

The pair, from the city of Toyota, opened a winery in May near their home.

Inside the wooden building the sweet aroma of grapes filled the air as the Suzakis used machines to crush the fruit, the juice pouring into barrels.

“I want to prove that Aichi Prefecture, too, can make good wine,” Daisuke said.

The couple’s journey began in Italy. Daisuke was drawn to that nation’s beautiful vineyard landscapes. He quit his job and after marriage in 2000 he and his wife moved to Tuscany.

The newlyweds spent the following three years learning about harvesting and wine production.

Daisuke realized that although grapes are grown in a variety of different habitats in Italy, from the mountains to the coast, wherever he went farmers would tell him that their local grapes produced the best wine.

Struck by the locals’ faith, the Suzakis decided to try making a wine from grapes suited to the climate and soil of Aichi Prefecture.

Conventional wisdom has it that prefectures such as Yamanashi and Nagano, with their sharp swings in summer temperature, nurture grapes best. In contrast, Aichi’s climate is warm in summer with little variation.

However, the pair were determined to go ahead and used a variety of European grape which they thought was suited to Toyota.

Sometimes the harvests failed, but the pair worked through the problems and in time came to double the size of the farm, to 1.3 hectares.

They produced their first wine in 2009. However, they shipped the raw material to companies in Nagano and Gifu prefectures for processing and were unable to call it a true Aichi product.

In March 2013, Toyota joined the list of districts permitted to produce alcohol from fruit. This easing of restrictions meant small firms could obtain alcohol production licenses. The Suzakis received one and set about building their winery.

It has paid off. The Aichi Prefectural Brewery Association has certified their wine as the only one produced from scratch within the prefecture.

Only a fraction of this year’s harvest is going on sale this month, as the couple are leaving the rest to mature in barrels to be bottled and sold next year.

Customers can place orders for the wine by calling 0565-42-2236 or by visiting the couple’s website: www11.ocn.ne.jp/~azu-azu/ .

Chunichi