Alps Co., Ltd. ● Head Quarter ,Shiojiri Factory 260 Shiojirimachi, Shiojiri city, Nagano 399-0702 Japan Phone: +81 263 52 1150 Fax: +81 263 54 1007 ● Suzaka Factory 1998-1 Ogawara, Suzaka city, Nagano 383-0071 Japan ● Kikyogahara Warehouse 1000-7 Hirooka gobara, Shiojiri city, Nagano 399-0704 Japan ● Chubu Branch 1-25 Masakicho kamioura, Hashima city, Gifu 501-6212 Japan
Established
1927
President
Manabu Yagasaki
Capital
36 million yen
Gross Sales
50 billion yen
Bank of Account
Hachijuni Bank / Resona Bank / Nagano Bank
employee number
141
Shiojiri Grape Industry
Shiojiri, Nagano which is located in central Japan, is now one of the largest grape growing areas in the country. Its advantage over other grape growing regions in Japan is lower humidity, a longer growing season and lots of sunlight.
In 1869, the second year of the Meiji Era, the very first hoe struck the ground of Shiojiri. In an effort to find drinking water developers attempted digging a 30 meter well but found the water contained elevated levels of iron, and as a result relied on rainwater for drinking. Despite this and severe cold winters in this area, they were successful in developing an agricultural growing region that included fruit orchards and grape vineyards.
By the 1880's and with the guidance of the National and Prefectural Governments, Shiojiri had grown into a large fruit growing area with the main crop being grapes. Out of the twenty plus varieties of grapes planted in the region, only Concord and Niagara have survived for over a century due to their originating from the United States area of Concord, Massachusetts and the Canadian area of Niagara Falls. Each of these regions has a similar climate as that of Shiojiri.
From 1910 to 1920, grape production increased and wineries in Shiojiri advanced in producing wine from Concord and Niagara varieties. Also during this time, modernization and technological advances in farming brought prosperity and wealth to not only the wine industry, but also the surrounding communities.
In 1927, the Alps Co. was established in Shiojiri, making wine from local grapes. In the 1960's wine consumption was still very low in Japan but grape juice was gaining in popularity. As a result in 1970 and for the following twenty years our company produced more grape juice than wine.
In an effort to increase the quality of grapes being harvested, the Alps Co. began forming unions with nearly 400 local farmers in the 1970's. The mid 1990's saw a rapid increase in Japanese wine consumption primarily due to the red wine's French paradox. With Japanese consumers preferring the flavor of Concord and Niagara grapes, our total wine production increased to a level that was ranked the 6th largest in the country.
Today, wine and juice made from Concord and Niagara grapes are still the main products produced at the Alps Co.
Over the course of the last decade, revolutionary farming technology coupled with some benefits of global warming have allowed a number of Japanese wineries to begin growing higher quality European varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and others, resulting in premium wines.
In order to benefit from these changes, we established the "Alps Farm Company" in 2008 to begin planting European wine grapes but also domestic varietals such as Black Queen, and Muscat Bailey A.
It is predicted that wine consumption in Japan will double over the course of the next decade. Maintaining the relationship with our 400 growers and expanding our own vineyards will allow us to continue to supply premium wines as well as grape juice to our customers in the years ahead.
