Nakamura Wine Kobo

Nakamura Wine Kobo is a tiny, one-family winery in the Asuka district of Habikino, Osaka — the same historic grape-growing area as the much larger Asuka Wine Co., but an entirely separate, independently licensed operation. Founder Mitsuo Nakamura decided to become a winemaker at age 65, single-handedly terracing a hillside vineyard from 1988 and spending six years obtaining a brewing license before launching the winery in 1993. The estate is unusual even among Japanese wineries for using 100% self-grown grapes from its own 2.2-hectare vineyard, including a proprietary red-leaved crossbreed called Mitsuo Red alongside Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Koshu and Delaware. Its best-known bottlings are "Ganko Oyaji" (Stubborn Old Man), a Cabernet Sauvignon and Muscat Bailey A-led red, and "Sachiko," a Koshu-based white named after the founder's wife, both fermented simply in stainless steel to let the fruit speak for itself. Second-generation winemaker Genji Nakamura, who ran a sake shop in Osaka City by night and tended the vines by day, stepped back at the end of 2021 for health reasons, and as of the most recent reports the winery's future operations remained under discussion — though it continues to be recognized as a distinct member of the Osaka Wineries Association alongside Asuka Wine.