Tokyo Wine Blending the Flavors of Sea and Soil

Supermarket Rooftop Vinyards

The Fukagawa area in Tokyo’s Kōtō City grew up around the Fukagawa Fudōdō temple in the Edo period (1603–1868), and still has hints of those long-ago days. This is where Fukagawa Winery Tokyo has its base, some 15 minutes and one subway change from Tokyo Station. After alighting at Monzen-nakachō Station and passing through a business district, you step into a quiet residential neighborhood filled with the pleasant aromas of fruit and yeast.

Fukagawa Winery was founded in 2016 on the idea that the owners wanted an urban winery where people could enjoy local wine without having to journey to the countryside. In late September 2024, when I visit, the staff are deep into crafting their latest vintage. The fermentation room is lined with round plastic tanks around a meter tall and a meter across. Each is filled with pale green grapes with the skins left on, fermenting away with a gentle bubbling sound. Watching as these grapes, a variety called Niagara grown in Yamanashi Prefecture, transform slowly into wine through the work of natural yeast is somehow soothing.

The staff harvesting grapes raised on a supermarket rooftop in August 2024. (Courtesy Fukagawa Winery Tokyo)

The winery began making wine from grapes grown in Fukagawa itself in 2020. When I wonder aloud, “Where could there be a vineyard in this town?” Sommelier Irei Sayumi answers with a smile: “It’s on the roof of the supermarket in front of the station.”

They started out growing vines in pots, but the containers were so small that they stunted the vines’ growth. While the staff searched for a solution, they discovered a method used by the winery Rooftop Reds, which grows grapes atop a Brooklyn building. When Fukagawa started using the same large-scale planters for its own vines, it finally achieved healthy growth. The cultivation is being led by a major contracting company researching rooftop gardening.

Miyata Takako checks the progress of fermentation at Fukagawa Winery Tokyo. (© Kosugi Satoko)

Tokyo does not exactly have an ideal climate for grape cultivation. It lacks the large temperature shifts of early spring that make rural growing regions so successful, for one thing. The staff were also worried that this last summer’s fierce heat would lead to diseases or insufficient sugar levels, but Irei says with relief, “We harvested a total of 40 kilograms of Delaware and Niagara varietals, and they were plenty sweet.” Fukagawa-grown grapes ended up as 28 bottles of wine 2023. 2024, Irei expects to get about 30, and they plan to reserve them for events rather than sell them.

Tokyo Bay as Wine Cellar

The winery is also trying new things in other areas. Taking a hint from stories about the delicious wine being recovered from sunken ships, it has undertaken to age wine underwater in Tokyo Bay. In 2018, it teamed up with the nearby Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology on a joint project, Deep-Sea Aged Fukagawa Wine. Each year, the team sinks about 200 bottles in the bay in search of the secret to better flavor.

Sea-aged wine brought up from a section of the bay used by Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. (Courtesy Fukagawa Winery Tokyo)

The winery uses different varietals of grape for the wine they sink each year and is making ongoing comparisons of how they age. Fukagawa’s vintner Miyata Takako explains, “Maturing wine underwater softens astringency and makes the wine easier to drink. The bubbles in sparkling wine become finer, too.” One reason behind the improvement is that the temperature underwater stays relatively stable, so the winery sinks its wine between the New Year and early summer. “The movement of the tides going in and out might also be an influence,” Miyata also guesses.

Fukagawa accepts reservations for tours. The company also sometimes calls for volunteers to help with labor like crushing the grapes after harvest. It must be so nice to imagine the wine you helped create going up on store shelves.

Fukagawa Winery Tokyo

• Address: 1F Takahata Building, 1-4-10 Furuishiba, Kōtō, Tokyo
• Business Hours: Open daily, 12:00–5:00 pm (bottle sales, tasting). Winery tours are on weekends and holidays at 2:00 and 4:00 pm (limited to six people at once, reservations necessary).
• Access: Approx. 4 minutes’ walk from JR Etchūjima Station, or approx. 6 minutes’ walk from Tokyo Metro Monzen-nakachō Station.
• Tel.: 03-5809-8058
• For details, please refer to the Fukagawa Winery Tokyo official website:
  https://www.fukagawine.tokyo/en

Representing Nerima Farming

Nerima accounts for 40% of the agricultural land in Tokyo’s 23 core cities, and is the single largest farming center in the central metropolis. It is also home to Tokyo’s first winery, whose claim to fame is wine made to pair with the many different kinds of produce from Nerima, all from domestic—and sometimes Nerima-grown—grapes.

After a 20-minute ride from Ikebukuro Station to Ōizumi-gakuen Station, then a 10-minute walk, Tokyo Winery finally comes into view. The surrounding area is dotted with residential homes and fields alike, showing off Nerima’s agricultural heart in true.

Owner Echigoya Miwa was originally a produce wholesaler at Tokyo’s Ōta Market. The discovery of delicious Nerima-grown cabbage and a later encounter with the Tokyo-original Takao grape varietal opened her path toward winemaking. Now, Tokyo Winery produces over 30 different wine varieties a year using grapes harvested both within Tokyo and at growing regions across Japan.

Echigoya Miwa smiles as she shows off the five fermentation tanks going full steam at Tokyo Winery. (© Kosugi Satoko)

The winery has five stainless steel fermentation tanks lurking in one corner of a small building. Each tank can take up to 500 kilograms of grapes at a time. Echigoya works with volunteer help, but every day is one of hard labor. Unlike larger wineries with full temperature control equipment, this building is easily influenced by climate and temperature changes, which raises the emotional toll.

In 2018, she teamed up with local farmers and restaurants to start the Nerima Wine Project, aiming to produce wine from Nerima-grown grapes alone. They borrowed disused farmland to start growing grapes in seven locations around the city. Each spot was a different size, with anywhere from 20 to 700 vines each. There are 14 varietals in total, including pinot gris, chardonnay, shōkōshi, cabernet sauvignon, and petit manseng. They increased yields through repeated trial and error, and in 2020 managed to establish a regular release of Nerima Wine made from 100% Nerima-grown grapes.

Grapes harvested from Nerima vineyards. (Courtesy Tokyo Winery)

“This year, we worked with about a metric ton of white-wine grapes and half a ton of red. Next spring, I think we’ll have about 1,500 bottles total, white and red, for sale.” Despite the blazing hot summer, Echigoya smiles at the tolerable yield, and says, “I’m hoping for a pleasant acidity and splendid aroma, and above all, a wine that shows off Nerima agriculture.”

The 2024 vintage Nerima Wine is planned to be released at next April’s 10-Year Anniversary event. The label has become something of a hot local specialty, selling out each year in a month or so, and there are fans already preparing to get their bottle.

Winery Restaurant Pairs with Local Produce

Fresh wine made from grapes harvested across Japan is already hitting store shelves. The attached winery restaurant typically has about 10 varieties available and serves it alongside dishes using Nerima-grown vegetables. I manage to join a group of customers in for a little noon tasting of new wine.

Wines made from domestically grown grapes line the shelves at Tokyo Winery. Some of the brands are also available to take home in your own containers. (© Kosugi Satoko)

“How about something you can only try now, a wine that is still fermenting? It’s delicious, sweet and mildly sparkling,” Echigoya recommends, and I accept. It is a wine called Federweisser. I have it with a side of sweet potatoes topped with caramel sauce, along with boiled peanuts and stuffed eggplant.

The Tokyo Winery restaurant serves its wine alongside dishes of Nerima-grown vegetables. (© Kosugi Satoko)

The wine had a slight pink tinge as it flowed into my glass, which offered a lovely contrast to the autumn vegetables I’d ordered. This wine, young as a newborn baby, offered up a fresh aroma as I sipped. The tingle of countless tiny bubbles on my tongue was pleasant. Echigoya’s passion for making wine that matches these local vegetables paid off, as it paired perfectly with the rich flavors of vegetables nurtured in the Nerima soil.

Tokyo Winery

• Address: 2-8-7 Ōizumi-gakuenchō, Nerima, Tokyo
• Business Hours: 11:00 am–5:00 pm. Winery restaurant open weekends and holidays only; winery tours are reservation only.
• Closed on Wednesdays.
• Access: Approx. 10 minutes’ walk from Seibu Ōizumi-gakuen Station
• Tel.: 03-3867-5525
• For details, please refer to the Tokyo Winery official website (in Japanese only):
  https://www.wine.tokyo.jp

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: A variety of wines made in Fukagawa, Tokyo. Many can be sampled at the Fukagawa Winery Tokyo shop. © Kosugi Satoko.)