RO_Vineyard

Ro\_ Vineyard is built on a simple philosophy: "Great soil grows great grapes." Takayuki Maezawa farms vineyards in the Chikumagawa Valley, working to support his community through high quality agricultural products and good wine. Like other partner producers in the portfolio, Maezawa is a member of the group of winemakers to go through the Chikumagawa Wine Academy and revolutionize the wine industry in Nagano. And he now farms multiple sites in the southeastern part of the valley, along the high altitude reaches overlooking the river and townships below.  The vineyard sites all sit between 600m to 900m, on soils dominated by volcanic clay and ash. The majority of the production goes towards Muscat Bailey A, which gets its own bottling. Maezawa also farms a spread of Alsatian and German varieties, which either get blended together (‘R’ and Rosé bottlings), or bottled as a single variety (Chardonnay). He also farms heirloom rice varieties and other fruits and vegetables.  There is a clear recognition that good wine starts from good farming. He practices strict herbicide and pesticide free cultivation (like most growers in Japan, lime and sulphur are employed to control threats of mildew). Maezawa adheres strictly to native yeast fermentation and zero sulphur winemaking. The hope is to leave the land in a better place than it started, putting more back in than what is taken out, and that the wines can reflect that same harmony and balance through gentle techniques. And through that care, Maezawa feels that the wine can be a receptacle for artistic passion, using the exhaustive effort poured into the vineyard to create wines of beauty, clarity, and expression. That regeneration extends beyond winemaking too, as he and his wife, Tomoe Maezawa, now operate a guesthouse for wine tourism, called Nagano Wine Stay.  The ongoing growth of this rich wine industry runs parallel to the care taken for the vineyard, as the Chikumagawa Valley continues to stand apart as a region rich in winemaking potential.