Wine-making Conserves Nature
Connection between Mariko Winery in Ueda City and the local community
Nestled on a small hill in the Maruko district of Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, is the Chateau Mercian Mariko Winery, completed in 2019. It started as a boutique winery with the theme of coexistence with the region, nature, and the future, on the site where Mercian began growing grapes with the government in 2003.
It is known that here, Secondary Nature, in which the ecosystem is enriched, is nurtured by the continued involvement of people through agriculture, and diverse ecosystems are protected. Kirin values this biodiversity, which can be called the livelihood of life, and will continue to maintain a win-win relationship between corporate activities and the conservation of nature.
How a Winery Was Made in Mariko
Seventeen years before the winery was born, we started with the creation of vineyards in the Maruko district of Ueda City. This site was chosen because it met the soil and climatic conditions suitable for grape growing, while also providing a large enough plot of land.
At the time, this land was idle and derelict (land that had not been used as farmland for some time and had no plans to be utilized thereafter), but with the cooperation of more than 100 landowners, working hand in hand with the government, it was opened as Mariko Vineyard in 2003.
While working with the local community on planting and harvesting, we nurtured grapes unique to Mariko that cannot be found anywhere else, and in 2016, the Chateau Mercian Mariko Winery was newly established with the desire to brew grapes harvested from these vineyards as soon as possible.
By using grapes grown in this region's unique environment, where the wind is always blowing and the area is surrounded by mountains, we continue to produce wines with a terroir (wine character) that is unique to this region.
Why Vineyards Nurture a Rich Ecosystem
In 2010, the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Nagoya, Japan, and the Kirin Group announced its Declaration of Support for Biodiversity Conservation.
As part of these activities, in 2015, the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) and the Kirin Group began a survey of the ecosystem in vineyards in the form of joint research.
Through the survey, it became clear that the vineyards nurture a rich ecosystem, with rare species of insects and plants listed on the Ministry of the Environment's Red List being identified.
Natural environments that have not been touched by humans at all are called Pristine Nature, whereas nature that has been created by humans mainly through agriculture, such as rice paddies, fields, and orchards, is called Secondary Nature.
Among these Secondary Natures, Mariko Vineyard is home to grasslands where a wide variety of organisms can easily live, nurturing biodiversity, which can be described as the liveliness of life.
Also Clara vegetation for Shijimiaeoides divinus, a rare species
After the impact of viticulture on biodiversity became clear, Mariko Vineyard has also been working to increase the number of rare and native species found. Activities include transplanting seeds of rare and vulnerable species to areas where they are more likely to grow, and increasing the amount of Clara, the only food plant for the larvae of Shijimiaeoides divinus, a rare species of butterfly.
The planting of Clara is part of an environmental class held in cooperation with the local Shiokawa Elementary School. By providing practical environmental education opportunities for children, who are the bearers of the future, the Mariko Vineyard is contributing to the creation of a sustainable society for both the local community and companies.
Winery Operation in Harmony with the Local Community
At the root of the community-based winery operation is the comprehensive collaboration agreement on "regional revitalization centered on wine industry promotion" signed in December 2019 between Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, where the winery is located, and the Kirin Group.
What is the Comprehensive Collaboration Agreement between Ueda City and Kirin signed in 2019?
The purpose of this agreement is for the government and companies to cooperate with each other in various fields, such as necessary human resource development, local industry revitalization, tourism, and education, with the aim of revitalizing the wine industry. With this agreement at the core, we have been working on the creation of a system and activities to enliven Ueda, the City of Wine.
New value born from a business program hosted by Kirin x Ueda City
One such activity is the Ueda Wine Business Lab, jointly sponsored by Ueda City and Kirin. This is a human resource development program for learning and practicing local business.
The Shinshu Ueda Matsutake & Wine Festival, conceived by the participants of this program, attracts not only the citizens of Ueda but also many people from far and wide, providing an opportunity to show the attractiveness of Ueda and helping to promote Ueda, the City of Wine.
In the future, we will continue to protect nature and revitalize the region, while producing world-class Japanese wine at Mariko Winery.
