島之内フジマル醸造所
1階が醸造所、2階がレストランになっています。
Fujimaru Winery. Wine making space on the first
floor and restaurant on the second floor.
I was in Osaka on a business trip. My morning meeting ended sooner than I expected, so I decided, wisely I thought, to take the opportunity to is visit a winery in the area!
ここは世界でも珍しい都市型ワイナリー。1階に醸造所、2階がレストランになっています。大阪市内から車で30分の柏原市に1haの自社畑をもち、デラウェア、マスカットベーリーAを中心に栽培しているそうです。
Fujimaru Wine in Shimanouchi is a unique winery. It is located in the city, about 10 minutes by taxi from the center of Osaka. It has a wine making facility on the first floor and a restaurant on the second floor. They own a one hectare vineyard about 30 minutes away from the restaurant and buy grapes from farmers in Yamagata prefecture to make their wine. They mainly grow Delaware and Mascat Barry A on their own property.
ワイナリーは大体交通の便がよくないことが多いですが、訪問しやすいワイナリーを目指して作られたここは梅田からタクシーで10分くらい。最寄りの地下鉄駅から徒歩1分くらい。便がよく、賑やかな通りから少し奥に入った川沿いの閑静な界隈にありました。
Most wineries are not easily accessible to the general public, the founders of this winery wanted to make a winery which is easily accessible to people. And yes indeed, it's only a one minute walk from the nearest subway station and is located in a quite area along a small river.
たまたま客は私一人でしたので、マネージャーでソムリエの河端さんにいろいろお話しが聞けました。
When I made a visit, I happened to be the only guest there for a late lunch and Mr.Kawabata, the manager and sommelier was kind enough to host me.
理由を伺うと、昼も作り置きせずに一からしっかり作るので、オフィスで働いている人たちの短いランチタイムの休憩には対応できない事も出てきたため、時間を気にしないでお昼を食べれる方に、という設定に変えたのだそうです。憶測ですが大阪というせっかちな気質の土地柄もあって、いろいろ試行錯誤があったのではないでしょうか。
The winery is open to the public from 1pm to 11pm. I thought that their hours were a bit unusual if they want to attract people during a typical lunch hour break. Most restaurants are open from 11:30 to 2pm for lunch. Also, they don't have a lunch menu and everything they serve is made to order. I asked why and Mr. Kawabata explained to me that they do not precook anything in advance because they do not care to serve their food more quickly and they want everything to be served as fresh as possible. He said that this is the reason why their lunch time is later in the day, so that only those people who do not have time restrictions can come and enjoy their lunch. People in Osaka are known to be impatient. They must have gone through several obstacles to set up their opening hours like this.
これまでは、自社畑と山形の契約農家から購入したブドウでワインを仕込んでいましたが、現在大阪にある放棄農地を少しずつ買い取っているのだそうです。大阪は昔、ブドウ栽培が盛んな土地でしたが、高齢化の波はここにもきているようです。もうすぐ自社畑のぶどうだけで醸造量を賄えるようになるので、ドメーヌ(自社畑100%で醸造するワイナリー)になる日も近いんだそうです。2014年のデータで日本でドメーヌは10軒ちょっと。全都道府県にワイナリーが210軒ちょっと。ほとんどのワイナリーにおいて自主管理畑のブドウだけでは十分でなく、契約農家から購入したりしているのが現状です。
He said that the winery has been purchasing abandoned lands in the Kashiwara area of Osaka. Osaka used to grow quite a volume of grapes but due to the aging society, the production numbers have lessened in recent years, and those lands have been left abandoned. Fujimaru has now bought enough land to enable them to grow enough grapes to cover their wine production capacity and so soon, they will become a Domaine (a winery which makes 100% of their wine using 100% of the grapes they have grown themselves). As of 2014, there are only 10 domaines in Japan. There are about 210 wineries in Japan, so only a small percentage of them are growing all the grapes they need to make their respective wines.
2015年6月末には東京白河清澄に同じく1階が醸造所2階にレストランというスタイルでもう1店舗オープンさせたそうです。ここのブドウは先の山形の契約農家さんからブドウを買い取ってワインを造るそうです。
実は日本は生食用ブドウの方が高く売れ、ワイン用ブドウより量産できる為、ワイン用ブドウを栽培する農家は少ないのが現状です。ですのでワイン用ブドウの契約農家さんを大切にすることで日本ワインの育成に貢献しているのですね。素晴らしい!
In June of this year (2015) this same wine maker opened a new winery in Tokyo that has a restaurant upstairs. Part of why they opened this new place was so that they could keep purchasing grapes from the grape farmers in Yamagata who continue to grow grapes for them. One of the drawbacks of being a wine maker in Japan is that the market price for table grapes is higher than it is for wine grapes. Also the fact that you can grow more table grapes from one tree than wine grapes because wine grapes need more concentration on the vine, and so cultivating wine grapes is not as attractive to grape farmers because production yields are lower. This reality means that wine makers need to plant more grapes that they will cultivate exclusively for wine production which will consequently protect the wine industry and help the industry to grow. Very nice!
http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1313/A131303/13183713/
Dela King 2013. Made from selected Delaware grapes from Yamagata. The typical foxy flavor (candy like aroma) of this variety was very mild, makes the wine very smooth and easy on the mouth. Fruity and fresh, while the alcohol content is not too high, so be careful and don't drink too much!
Zucchini and Gorgonzola quiche. A good match with well chilled, fresh and fruity Dela King.
After having quiche and tagliatelle with a few glasses of wine, my host showed me the wine making space on the first floor. The space was full of all sorts of equipment and a few tanks and barrels for maturation. This system does not allow them to mature wine for a long term. But what is great about this place is that you can enjoy fresh wine right out of the tank and food that goes with it at their restaurant while watching the wine making process. They are making wines that go with their food. The access is really great and that is attractive too.
醸造所にグルジアのツボがあり見せていただきました。グルジアは「ぶどうのルーツ」とも言われ、ワインの歴史は紀元前8000年までさかのぼるそうです。このグルジアには独特の醸造方法があり「Qvevri(クヴェヴリ)」と呼ばれる大型の壺の中でブドウを(この壺の内側はオーガニックの蜜蝋でコーティングされていてる)発酵させのですが、樽での発酵では絶対に生まれない豊かな果実感を持った身体に優しいワインが出来上がるのだそうです。タンニンも豊富に含まれ、活性酸素をも抑制する効果も持つ健康にも良いワインができるそうです。
新しい試みだそうですが、出来上がるのが楽しみですね。
I found a huge clay (earthenware) pot sitting at the corner. It is called a Qvevri and it's from Georgia. Georgia is the origin of the grape they've been growing there wine since 8000 bc. They've been making wine using a Qvevri to ferment grapes which is the root of wine making. Wine fermented and matured in Qvevri becomes fruitful and rich with tannin, an organic wine that is good for the health. The use of a Qvevri is experimental for this winery but I can't wait to taste the wine made with their Qvevri.