Akita Winery Tour Part 2: Akitano Winery

February has arrived, and winter is now in full swing. The cold days are becoming even more frequent.
In snow country, as seen in the photo above, there are wineries buried under heavy snow.

For the second installment of our Akita winery tour, we introduce "Akitano Winery & Garden Farm" in Kita-Akita City.
We visited them for this interview in early autumn, October 2022, before the snow began to fall.

Akitano Wineryis a truly beautiful winery located on a vast expanse of land with a wonderful sense of openness.
However, this site was reportedly a former apple orchard that had been abandoned for over 20 years.

Representative Director and President Takamasa Kitabayashi began restoring the land in 2017, plowing, improving the soil, and planting grape vines. Construction of the winery building took place in 2021, and in July 2022, they obtained their fruit wine manufacturing license, completing preparations to produce wine made from grapes harvested in Akita.

They grow seven red wine grape varieties, including Merlot and Pinot Noir, and six white wine grape varieties, such as Pinot Gris and Riesling. They also plan to produce cider made from apples.

To learn more about the winery, we first spoke with President Kitabayashi and his wife, Chiyo.

When visiting Akitano Winery, I was amazed by how beautiful a winery it was.
Beautiful, neatly aligned grapevines set against gorgeous green lawns.

President Kitabayashi is a man of many talents, currently serving as an active prefectural assembly member and holding a First-Class Architect license.
The winery's stunning aesthetic, constructed by making full use of his architectural expertise, is made possible precisely because of that experience.

Furthermore, the garden created by Chiyo adds an even more wonderful landscape to the winery, elevating its charm.

As mentioned in the video, the initial trigger for starting the winery was a book by Toyoo Tamamura, founder of Villa d'Est Winery in Nagano Prefecture. In fact, I felt that the atmosphere of the vineyard and gardens bore a striking resemblance to those at Villa d'Est.

I am already filled with anticipation that Akitano Winery & Garden Farm will also eventually become an amazing winery like Villa d'Est, where visitors can enjoy wine, food, and scenery all together!

On this day, we enjoyed a special curry rice meal together with the harvest volunteers.
Having lunch and wine while gazing out at the vineyard was simply unbeatable.

Some time after our interview, President Kitabayashi reached out with the news: "Our first vintage is ready."
I was fortunate enough to taste these precious wines from their memorable inaugural vintage.

I tasted the Pinot Gris and the Chardonnay & Riesling.

Both had a pleasant acidity and freshness, along with an elegant sweetness.

The Pinot Gris was particularly surprising.
I have never encountered a Japanese wine made from domestic Pinot Gris with such robust aromas and flavor.
Although pale in color, it has a solid texture and offers plenty of fruit sweetness—a truly magnificent bottle.
I personally placed an order right away!

Akitano Winery is a producer whose future evolution is immensely exciting to look forward to.
Although this tasting was limited to white wines, it raises great expectations for their red wines as well.

Located close to Odate Noshiro Airport, it is conveniently accessible.
Be sure to visit and experience this new form of wine tourism in Kita-Akita.