The “Travel Salon,” hosted by TREASURES OF JAPAN to expand travel imagery, featured “The Joy of Winery Tours” as its latest theme.

Japanese wines are currently experiencing a boom. According to National Tax Agency statistics, as of 2024, there are 493 wineries in Japan. While many are small, distinctive establishments, full-scale wineries with restaurants and accommodations are continuously emerging, attracting attention as travel destinations.

For this salon event, we invited the cultivation chief engineer and restaurant chef from NIKI Hills Winery in Niki Town, Yoichi District, Hokkaido to hold a gathering where we enjoyed wine tastings and restaurant meals while exploring the possibilities of winery tours.

First, Ms. Minobu Kondo from the International Business Division provided an overview of the winery.
NIKI Hills Winery began developing abandoned farmland in 2014 to revitalize Niki Town, which had become a semi-marginal village. In 2015, they started wine production using grapes from contract farmers in neighboring Yoichi and Niki towns, and in 2019, they began making wine from their own vineyard grapes. Currently operating as a comprehensive winery on approximately 33 h (82 acres) of expansive grounds, they feature vineyards, a winery, natural gardens, a restaurant, and a hotel overlooking Yoichi Bay, contributing to local employment opportunities.

Next, Mr. Yuki Kuraoka, the cultivation chief engineer, discussed the vineyard soil characteristics and yearly climate comparisons, followed by tastings of three different wines.
PROPOSE ROSE Sparkling NV received Gold at the “Sakura Award 2025.”
This sparkling wine offers a refreshing acidity with substantial fruitiness, embodying the elegance suggested by its bottle appearance.

For this event, Chef Naoki Nagai from the winery’s restaurant “Aperçu” prepared dishes at the salon and suggested wine pairings.
PROPOSE ROSE Sparkling NV was paired with “Foie gras and sweet bean paste in monaka wafer.”

Zweigeltrebe 2022 was matched with Rôti (roasted) Ezo venison with black pepper flavor. The wine’s rich fruitiness and spiciness perfectly complemented the venison’s cooking and sauce prepared by Chef Nagai, who honed his skills in orthodox French cuisine at venues like the Rihga Royal Hotel Osaka restaurant.

The financier was paired with Hatsuyuki Late Harvest, creating a melting combination with Chef Nagai’s dessert.
This late-harvest wine made from Kerner, a representative Hokkaido grape variety, balances fruit sweetness with moderate acidity, making it appealing not only as a dessert wine but also as a dining wine for many occasions.

With wines that express their terroir and an array of dishes so magnificent they seemed beyond what could be prepared in a salon kitchen, conversation flowed among the attendees.

Here are the various dishes created by Chef Nagai. The “Salon” transformed into a “Restaurant”!

NIKI Hills Winery has achieved high-quality winemaking based on a regional revitalization project and created a high-specification winery with a hotel and restaurant – a combination rare even in France, the country of wine.

This occasion confirmed that one must visit the location in person to truly experience Japanese winemaking and the charm of Hokkaido’s Yoichi region.

Getting there: Approx. 5 min by car from JR Niki Station. Approx. 1 hour by car from Sapporo City using the expressway. Approx. 1 hour 30 min from New Chitose Airport using the expressway.
Address: 148-1 Asahidai, Niki-cho, Yoichi-gun, Hokkaido prefecture
Name: NIKI Hills Winery
Tel: +81-135-32-3801
Website: https://nikihills.co.jp

Text/ Shunji Miyagawa
Translation/ Yumiko Sushitani