Japan's Leading Beverage Manufacturer Suntory's Tomi no Oka Winery
- 5月7日
- 読了時間: 3分
更新日：4 日前
May 7, 2026
AMII AGAWA
What is Suntory's Tomi no Oka Winery?
Suntory is a leading Japanese beverage manufacturer, offering a wide range of beverages, including mineral water, tea, coffee, wine, and whiskey. Based on its corporate philosophy of "In Harmony with People and Nature, creating a Rich Lifestyle, and Seeking to Enhance the Brilliance of Human Life," the company has been a pioneer in spreading Western alcohol culture in Japan since it began producing wine in 1899. Today, the company has expanded its global wine business, acquiring management rights to world-famous wineries such as Château Lagrange in Bordeaux, France, and Robert Weil Winery in the Rheingau region of Germany. The starting point of this large-scale wine business is the Suntory Tomi no Oka Winery, located in Tomi no Oka, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Tomi no Oka Winery is located on a vast 150ha hill surrounded by lush nature. For over 100 years, the winery has been producing wine from start to finish, from grape cultivation to sales.
Commitment to wine (FROM FARM)
1. Land and Climate
Tomi no Oka is surrounded by high mountains, including Mt. Fuji, the Southern Alps, Kaikoma-dake, and Mt. Yatsugatake (such areas are called an intermountain basin in Japanese), The south-facing vineyards, at a high altitude, a lot of sunlight and experience large temperature fluctuations, little rain, making the area ideal for grape growing. However, even within the same location, the slope, elevation, and soil conditions vary from point to point. To address this challenge and maximize the vineyard's appeal, the vineyard is divided into approximately 50 plots, each managed to take advantage of its unique characteristics. Winemaking begins with vineyard management.
2. Love for Grapes and Wine
Grapes are delicate foods. Treating grapes with care leads to the creation of even more delicious wine. For example, the "assemblage" process, in which various aged wine spirits are blended in optimal balance, is performed by hand, without the use of pumps. They also focus on managing soil quality to grow better grapevines, and in the fermentation building where the grapes are fermented, they even installed double doors at the entrance to maintain optimal temperature. In this way, Tomi no Oka Winery is devising every step of the process to produce delicious wine. After visiting Tomi no Oka Winery this time, I realized that the wines made by Suntory are not only delicious and high quality, but also wines with a story to tell, imbued with the producers' thoughts.
3. For future wine production:
Wine continues to ferment even after it is bottled, and its flavor continues to change. To utilize these changes in fermentation in winemaking, winemakers store wines by vintage, and use them as a reference in their efforts to improve the flavor of their wines.
The wines produced at the Tomi-no-Oka Winery, crafted with the spirit and passion of the growers reflected in the vineyards and climate, are known as “FROM FARM” wines and have received numerous awards both in Japan and abroad.
Symbolizing this achievement is their remarkable achievement at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), one of the most prestigious international competitions in the wine industry. Mr. Kohei Oyama, head vineyard technician at Tomi no Oka Winery, shared his thoughts upon receiving the news that their wine had been selected as the first ever Best in Show (Top 50 wines in the world):
"As a winemaker in Japan, I'm extremely happy, but also very nervous. This award may be the first-time wine lovers around the world will recognize and pick up a bottle of Japanese wine."
This was not just an award; it was also a moment when the category of "Japanese wine" itself was officially recognized on the global stage. Oyama's words exude his pride and responsibility as a winemaker, as well as his strong passion to share wines born from Japan's natural environment with the world.
References:
The pamphlet I received from Tomi no Oka Winery.
