Tomorrow Wines

While clicking through a database from the local government listing abandoned farmland, he found the perfect site in Onoyama, outside of Ueda City. The site was near the historic location of Onoyama Castle, and there had previously been a terraced vineyard on a portion of the land, though it was now covered in brush. Once cleared, it saw clear through to the Chikuma River and Mount Asama to the north. So Tamura handed over day to day operations of the restaurant to his sons and moved to Ueda, returning to Kyoto on the weekends. The site is primarily clay, more removed from the volcanic soils further east in the river valley closer to Mount Asama. It is planted in rows to primarily Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Petit Manseng, though they are expanding further up the hillside into more hectarage, and a wider variety of French origin grapes are going into cultivation. And there is a ton of nuance to the site, with slopes that point in various directions and different aspects, leading to a complex array of ripening times and water flows. No pesticides, herbicides or any chemical sprays are ever used in the vineyard, nor is there any tillage. They do practice green fertilization, mowing cover crops and artfully placing the resultant greenery along with the trimmings from vines around the vineyard to aid with water flow off the soil. In the first few vintages, Tamura produced the wine at the Arc-en-Vignes, the production facility attached to the wine school he attended. Winemaking methodology changes year to year, depending on factors such as ripeness of the stems and relative volumes of different varieties. But the consistent factors are the exclusion of all additions and chemical interventions, the use of only gravity in the cellar, and the adherence to zero/zero philosophies throughout the production cycle. Tamura’s daughter, Moe Ozono, tasted her father’s wine after the first release in 2019 and was astounded by the work. She had a career in the fashion industry, but knew she wanted to help her father share his wine with the world, rather than just at the restaurant. So she moved with her family to Ueda and joined the winery to run the sales and take on work in the fields and in the cellar. They built their own winery space in 2024 and have plans to open a tasting room soon as well. They are excited to share their wines with a larger audience and hope you enjoy the effort of their work.