Fujimaru Winery

Osaka became a cradle of grape cultivation in Japan, when the first plantings of Delaware grape took root around 120 years ago. That foundational history makes Osaka one of the earliest centers of viticulture and vinification in Japan. But the encroachment of urban development and existing trends in migration from areas of agrarian vibrancy has led to the impending abandonment of ancestral and historic vineyards. Tomofumi Fujimaru, who owned a wine shop in Osaka, saw the threat of this viticultural history fading away, and took over an abandoned plot in 2010 to help stem the tide. His efforts were so successful that other grape growers started coming to him with requests to take over abandoned fields – vineyards that had gone out of cultivation, or the holdings of older farmers who had no one to take over in their stead.  The project continued to grow, and Fujimaru launched an urban winery in 2013 to take on the ever-increasing volume of local grapes. In the Shimanouchi area of Osaka City, they were able to focus on vinifying the product of their vineyards around the region. But they wanted to expand their efforts to the rest of Japan. So in 2015, they built their second winery in the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa neighborhood of Tokyo. In that location, they’re able to more easily connect with the other center of Delaware cultivation, in Yamagata Prefecture, as well as the other grape growing areas of the Kanto plain and Tohoku region (Northeastern Japan). Winemaker Haruka Sakuma runs the show in Tokyo, prioritizing a style of winemaking that shows varietal typicity, in a complex but fresh and food friendly package. Delaware is the centerpiece of both wineries, perfectly suited for fresh, high acid wines that compliment the delicate flavors of Japanese cuisine. But they also incorporate a number of other Japanese grapes and adopted vinifera, showcasing the complex nature of modern Japanese winemaking. Sustainability underpins all elements of their winemaking – they avoid use of grapes grown with herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides. In the cellar, they do not use any additions of any kind, outside of a judicious addition of sulphur at bottling. And they incorporate byproducts of vinification back into use, utilizing grape lees as an ingredient in their restaurant, feeding pomace to farmed sea urchin. In 2021, they bought a distillery in Ehime Prefecture, making brandy with the remaining pomace.  Through their commitment to sustaining viticulture, ecosystem, and community, Fujimaru has realized their goal of handing down a better world to the next generation. We are excited to share a slice of their hard work.