Bankei Winery

A small winery that promotes wine culture
Producing non-additive wine with only yeast

The Bankei Ridge Winery is located about 20 minutes from downtown Sapporo and is situated at the mid-section of the Bankei Ridge. A wine maker named Shuji Tamura who called himself “The Barrel Man” opened the winery in 2001 with the hope of promoting wine culture in the region. From June of that year, he used carefully selected Hokkaido-grown grapes and mades wine, cider and grape liquor. Zala Gyongye grapes grapes from Hungary and other variety are grown in the vineyard nextdoor. In 2013, they introduced the “Ridge Mountain Sauvignon” made with grapes from their vineyard and made in Sapporo. They periodically host harvesting festivals, lessons on growing grapes and wine seminars. It has also become a place where lovers of wine and those in the wine industry gather and share information.