Okunota Winery
奥野田ワイナリー
Small Kofu Basin winery pairing pragmatic, flavor-first winemaking with innovative vineyard tech.
About Okunota Winery
- Founded
- 1962
- 64 years ago
- Location
- 甲州市
- 山梨県
- Wines listed
- 5
- Sparkling 1, White 1, Rosé 1, Red 1, Sweet 1
- Main grapes
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Delaware
Okunota Winery is a small, family-run winery in Shioyama, Koshu City, in the Kofu Basin of Yamanashi Prefecture. It began in 1962 as a communal brewery where local farmers pooled their grapes, and was taken over in 1989 by winemaker Masakazu Nakamura at age 26, who modernized production while keeping the winery deliberately small. Okunota farms roughly 1.5 hectares of its own vineyards, growing both international varieties (Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon) and Koshu, and installed Japan's first vacuum-type grape press together with real-time vineyard climate monitoring to protect fruit quality. Nakamura's approach is pragmatic rather than dogmatic: natural, low-intervention farming is pursued because it makes better-tasting wine, not as an ideology in itself, and conventional treatments are used when needed. The roughly 40,000-bottle annual output spans dry and off-dry whites, rosé, red, and sparkling wines, all bottled with hand-illustrated labels designed by Nakamura's wife, Akiko. The winery also runs a Vineyard Club of over 200 members and hosts vineyard tours and seasonal harvest events at its tasting room.
Who Is This For?
For drinkers who want honest, fruit-forward Japanese wine from a hands-on producer that prioritizes taste over natural-wine dogma, and who enjoy visiting small, personable wineries.
Wines of Okunota Winery
Sparkling1
White1
Location & Nearby
- Address
- 山梨県甲州市塩山牛奥2529-3View map ↗
- Founded
- 1962
Source: web.okunota.com (checked Sep 2026) / nns-catv.co.jp (checked Sep 2026)
The pin with the gold outline marks Okunota Winery.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Where is Okunota Winery located?
- Okunota Winery is in Shioyama, Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, in the Kofu Basin — the same eastern-Yamanashi grape-growing area that also includes Katsunuma, though Okunota is a distinct, smaller estate rather than part of the Katsunuma winery cluster.
- What is Okunota Winery's winemaking philosophy?
- Owner and winemaker Masakazu Nakamura pursues natural, low-intervention farming and small-batch production specifically because it produces better-tasting wine, not out of strict adherence to organic or natural-wine ideology, and he will use conventional treatments when the crop needs it.
- What grape varieties does Okunota grow?
- The estate grows both international varieties — Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon — and Japan's native Koshu grape on its roughly 1.5-hectare vineyard in the Kofu Basin.
- Can you visit Okunota Winery?
- Yes. The winery offers vineyard and cellar tours with tastings by reservation, seasonal events such as a spring wine party and autumn harvest days, and membership in its Vineyard Club for hands-on vineyard experiences.
- What makes Okunota Winery distinctive among small Japanese wineries?
- It was Japan's first winery to install a vacuum-type grape press, and it uses real-time vineyard climate monitoring to catch mold risk early, technology choices unusual for a winery of its small, family-run scale.