Winemakers

Château Mercian's wine making philosophy is "Finesse & Elegance". "Finesse" here comes from the land, the terroir.
"The ‘Finesse’ of wine is basically the characteristics of the grapes. So grapes grown in the Japanese environment, on this terroir, have their own particular ‘Finesse’. Take Japanese cuisine as an example. Even if the chef is not consciously trying to produce ‘Finesse’, the methods used by a Japanese chef are such that ‘Finesse’ will always be present in the dish. It's the same for wine. Fundamentally, it means respecting the characteristics of the grapes grown in this soil. Precisely because these grapes are grown on Japanese terroir, so long as their characteristics are put to good use the characteristics of the soil and ‘Finesse’ will naturally be present. ‘Finesse’ isn't something you can consciously create.
Food is the main element in everyday meals. The Japanese wine I want to make is one perfected to the degree that it feels natural to have in a glass that you raise at the family dinner table, and the bottle is empty before you realise it."

• Château Mercian General Manager

  Hironori Kobayashi

  Joined Mercian Corporation in 1999. Then he went into wine research and studied winemaking techniques at the University of Bordeaux, in Australia and elsewhere in the world. In 2003, while conducting various test vinification, he discovered a cuvée from the Koshu grape with citrus aromas that nobody had been able to identify before. He is one of the creators of Koshu Kiro Aroma, which was born from this discovery.
  He obtained Ph.D. with the research on the characteristic aromas of Koshu wines. He took up his current position in 2023.