What is the Osaka  Wineries Association?

 

Osaka Wineries Association was established in 2012.

Its members currently consist of seven wineries in Osaka, each with its own unique character, which fuse a legacy going back over a century with contemporary style.

 

大阪ワイナリーマップ

The History of Osaka  Wine and Grapes

 

Osaka grapes have more than 100 years of history.

In 1878, Koshu grapes were transplanted from a prefectural-run facility in Osaka to Kashiwara City, and grape cultivation spread to other parts of the Kawachi area. In the 1920s Osaka was the largest producer of grapes in Japan, and today it is the third largest producer of the Delaware and Shine Muscat varieties in the season from May to September. Visitors can enjoy these grapes at farmers’ markets and at farms that accept visitors during the harvest season. 

Small and medium-sized wineries in the Kawachi area have treasured our time-honored grapes and have made wines for a century. With pride and confidence, we produce and deliver world-class wines to customers today and will continue doing so in the future.

 

A Rarity Among  the World’s Wine Regions

One appealing aspect of Osaka wineries is that our vineyards can be reached in 40 minutes from central Osaka.

For vineyards to be so close to the areas where wine is consumed is rare, even globally speaking. In Japan, other major wine regions in Yamanashi and Nagano are located about two hours from nearby urban areas. Osaka is known as Japan’s food capital, and local wine that matches local ingredients and dishes is earning high acclaim.

 

 

Gaining Global Recognition!  Served at the G20

The G20 Summit was held in Osaka on June 28-29, 2019. Various dishes and drinks were served at the working lunch and the summit dinner on the first day, including Osaka wine.


Prospectus of the Osaka  Wineries Association

Prospectus of the Osaka Wineries Association 

In 1878, grapevine seedlings of the Koshu variety were transplanted from Shido-en, a now-defunct Osaka Prefectural facility, to a site in Kashiwara City. Grape cultivation spread to other parts of the central and southern Kawachi areas east of Osaka in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho (1912-1926) eras and continues to this day, over a century later. In the early Showa (1926-1989) era it was the largest grape-producing district, by area, in all of Japan.

We are an association of small and mid-sized winery proprietors in the central and southern Kawachi area (in eastern Osaka Prefecture) that have been making wine for nearly 100 years with reverence for the heritage of this historic grape variety. We have been honing our winemaking techniques for many years, and devote ourselves daily to tending our vines, as well as producing and selling wine, with pride in wines that earn the admiration of appreciators worldwide. 

However, the current situation is that while our forebears sweated and struggled to create the vineyards that provide the grapes for Osaka wine, we remain largely unknown among Japanese wines, with name recognition lower than that of Yamanashi and other regions.

What’s more, as proprietors age and young people drift away from agriculture, an ever-increasing number of vineyards are going fallow, and we are faced with the looming threat of being unable to secure the grapes we need to make wine.

And that is not all. We are in an ever-changing situation, with a low birthrate and aging population, declines in young people’s alcohol consumption, a domestic economy marked by stubborn deflation and yen appreciation, and a worsening global economy, and we are finding ourselves at a turning point.

To overcome these obstacles we will endeavor to promote demand, disseminating the Osaka Wine brand nationwide by holding promotional events and raising awareness. Among our goals are to construct a system for improving the skills of associate members through study sessions and so forth and sharing agricultural work to support the farmers who cultivate grapes, and we are pleased to announce the formation of the Osaka Wineries Association uniting small and mid-sized wine producers in the central and southern Kawachi area who share our mission of enabling people engaged in the grape and wine businesses in Osaka Prefecture to grow grapes, produce wine, and deliver wine to consumers with vigor, confidence and pride.

Osaka Wineries Association Founding Members