Ushioku Daiichi Budoshu
牛奥第一葡萄酒株式会社
Farmer-run micro-winery, Yamanashi's rarest Koshu wine
Ushioku Daiichi Budoshu is a small, farmer-run winery in the Ushioku district of Shiozan (Enzan), Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture — part of Japan's historic Koshu wine appellation. Founded by local grape growers in the early Showa era as a cooperative to vinify grapes unsuited for the fresh market or surplus from their own vineyards, the winery has continued as a part-time, non-professional operation for nearly a century, with management duties rotating among member-farmers. Annual output is tiny — roughly 2,000 bottles of 720ml and 5,000 of 1.8-liter jugs — and the wine, sold mainly in one-sho (1.8L) bottles with hand-applied labels, rarely leaves Yamanashi Prefecture, making it one of the rarest bottlings from the region.
Cuvées
No cuvées registered yet.
Who Is This For?
For adventurous Koshu enthusiasts and Yamanashi wine-region travelers seeking authentic, hard-to-find farmhouse wine rarely sold outside the prefecture.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where is Ushioku Daiichi Budoshu located?
- In the Ushioku district of Shiozan (Enzan), Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, within the historic Koshu wine appellation.
- Who runs the winery?
- A cooperative of local grape farmers who have operated it part-time since the early Showa era, pooling unsellable or surplus grapes and rotating management duties among themselves.
- How much wine do they make?
- Only about 2,000 bottles of 720ml and 5,000 of 1.8-liter (isshobin) format per year, depending on the harvest — a tiny, largely undistributed production.
- Where can I buy it?
- The wine is almost never sold outside Yamanashi Prefecture; it is best found at the winery itself or select local shops in Koshu City.