TAKAHIRO WINE
Shimotsuma, Ibaraki
People
Representative Takahiro Suzuki was born in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki in 1987. With the aim of establishing his own winery in his home town in a few years' time, he is currently making his wines at the winery Fattoria AL FIORE in Kawasaki-cho, Shibata-gun, Miyagi Prefecture.
Takahiro’s parents run a steel works and he grew up watching his father engage in manufacturing work as a child. On the other hand, the sight of his mother cooking made him want to be a chef from an early age, and he studied at a culinary school and later worked in a restaurant in Yokohama.
While learning about food through general restaurant work, including cooking and service, he became particularly interested in wine and became a sommelier. Later, while working in a restaurant in Tokyo, he came into contact with the thoughts of the winemaker and decided to make his own wine.
When he turned 30, he travelled to Adelaide, South Australia, a region known for its natural wines, to train at the winery Small Fry. The winery uses almost no pesticides and grows grapes and vinifies wines in close contact with nature.
After completing a year's training at Small Fry, he decided to ‘grow grapes and establish a winery in his home town of Ibaraki’ and returned to Japan in April 2023. Currently, at Fattoria AL FIORE, he is involved in all aspects of winery operations, including viticulture and winemaking.
In the future, he plans to establish a winery in his home town of Ibaraki. He also intends to start his own vineyard there, in spring next year.
‘I am very happy to be able to export my wines to Europe. I think it is a great opportunity to show how wonderful Japanese wine is’ (Takahiro).
