We are making Sapporo local wine in beautiful scenary of Mt. Hakkenzan
| Winery information +Location +History +Geology and Soils +Viticulture +Winemaking +Construction +Contact |
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| Location Hakkenzan winery is located 20km southwest of Sapporo city and it takes only 30 minutes with comfortable drive on the #230 National road from the central of Sapporo. It also takes around 1.5 hours from Chitose International Airport via Douou Highway. The winery is close to Toyohira river which is a tributary of Ishikari river, the longest river of Hokkaido. Behind the winery, Mount Hakkenzan is standing up with its spectacular scenery, which is one of the hundred famous mountains of Hokkaido. This area is situated on the edge of the Shikotsu-Toya National Park and is in the immediate vicinity of the famous Jozankei-onsen hotspring spa resort. There are many tourist spots around the winery, and are crowded with a lot of tourists in summer, also in winter for skiing. |
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History
We started the trial viticulture in 2006 in the winery vineyard. As a result
of the trial cultivation, we found this area is suitable sites of grape
cultivation in soils and microclimate. The brewery building was constructed in 2011, we brewed the first vintage
wine in the same year. Neighboring area of the winery is well known as a fruits production area
of Sapporo city from old time, growing apples, cherries and blueberries,
etc. Takeshiro MATSUURA, the famous Japanese explorer who was active in the
end of the Edo period, made his excursion along the Toyohira river. He
described in his report Shiribeshi-Nisshi that this area will be good for
agriculture in the future since the mountains in the northwest prevent
strong winds and moderate the climate. |
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| Geology and soils The winery is located on the high-level terrace plane made by Toyohira river. Geology of the bedrocks consists of sandstone and mudstone of Miocene and volcanic rocks of Pliocene, Tertiary. The bed rocks are covered with gravels with unsolid cray and sand of terrace deposit of Pleistocene and fan deposits of Quarternary. The Soil of the vineyard is clayey soil with a lot of gravels. Gravels will warm up grapes and will supply minerals to vines, therefore it is said gravels make a rich wine. Such a feature of Gravelly soils of this winery are totally different from other vineyards of Hokkaido, so we are expected to produce unique wine in the future. |
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Viticulture We have three vine field here. The first is the test field, and in this field we are cultivating more than 25 varieties of grapes, including Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay, etc. We are looking for varieties which are most adequate to this region, and believe such a grape will produce a good local wine which reflect the teroir of this area. In the second and the third field, some of potential varieties were planted , which were selected based on the result of the trial cultivation in the first vine field. |
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Wine making We are aiming to produce unique wine in
small-scale production and handmade style. "Grapes wants to be a wine", "Wine is a product of a farm” Respecting the natural process, we wish to brew unique taste of Sapporo
local wine. |
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Construction The building of the brewery was designed in an adventurous wedge-shape. Its shape makes a good contrast to the view of vineyards and large scale landscape of Mount Hakkenzan. Outside of the building is painted in unforgettable red color, this color is well matched to the green of the mountain hill side in summer, and is very impressive in the white snow of winter. We utilize the cool underground water to keep the temperature of storage, a wood-burning stove to warm up the building. |
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| Biotope In order to enhance the biodiversity of winery, we made a biotope in the winery forest area. Before the biotope was made, the forest floor was covered with dense vegetation of strip banbooo, and its biota was monotonous. By the effect of the biotope, it has changed to a new habitat of frogs and many kind of insects, and also a couple of wild duck. |
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| Contact 194-1, Toyama, Minami-ku, Sapporo city, Hokkaido pref., JAPAN 061-2275 e-mail: 8winfo(at)hakkenzanwinery.com (English acceptable) faX: +81-11-596-3981 (English acceptable) |
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