Wakayama3 wineries

Open to visitors

1 (1 by reservation)

Tasting available

1 winery

On-site shop

2 wineries

Earliest founding year

2019 Wakayama Yuasa Winery

These figures count the winery listings on this site. Every listing carries its own sources and verification date. Anything we could not verify is left out of the count, so the real numbers may be higher. A founding year may refer to the parent company — often a sake brewery — rather than the year winemaking began.

The prefectural government names Hashimoto, Wakayama City, Katsuragi and Aridagawa as Wakayama's main grape-growing districts. Its "Wakayama Ingredient Terroir" feature on grapes notes that roughly 90% of grapes grown in Japan are eaten fresh, and the varieties it highlights for the prefecture — Delaware, Kyoho and the like — are table grapes. Some growers do make wine, however: the Kinki Regional Agricultural Administration Office profiles a producer around Kainan who grows grapes and also vinifies. According to that report, the producer raises seven varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay while searching for the ones that suit Wakayama's climate and soil, and currently works partly with fruit from other parts of Japan while aiming for a wine made entirely from Wakayama grapes off his own vineyard.

Climate

The prefecture's "Wakayama Ingredient Terroir" page describes conditions in Hashimoto, one of its main grape districts, in some detail. The area sits in the Seto Inland Sea climate zone, with comparatively low rainfall and a wide spread between day and night — and between seasonal — temperatures, giving it an inland character. Cold air spilling down from Mount Koya to the south meets the rising air generated over the Kino River, and from summer into autumn the day-night gap can reach 10°C; where the hills close in on the river, that cold air pools and brings frost. The page also notes that in Japan's wet climate grapes are prone to disease and insect damage, so rain protection — plastic roofing, and paper caps fitted when the bunches are bagged — matters a great deal.

Soil

According to the prefecture's "Wakayama Ingredient Terroir" page, the Kino River valley running east–west through Hashimoto is made up of several geological formations arranged in bands, giving rich soil with a good balance between water retention and drainage. River terraces — stepped landforms along the watercourse — have developed on the north side, while gentle hills and plains open out to the south.

• pref.wakayama.lg.jp2026.08.07
• pref.wakayama.lg.jp2026.08.07
• maff.go.jp2026.08.07