Shigekazu Misawa (三澤茂計)
Fourth-generation Grace Wine proprietor — the figure who repositioned Koshu as fine wine via altitude site selection
Life
Shigekazu Misawa (三澤茂計) is the fourth-generation proprietor of Grace Wine, the Katsunuma-based estate founded in 1923 by his great-grandfather Chotarō Misawa. Shigekazu took over leadership of the family estate in the late 1980s, succeeding his father.
His career has overlapped with the period of Koshu’s most significant transformation — from regional aperitif curiosity in the 1980s to internationally-recognized fine-wine variety by the 2010s. Shigekazu’s specific contribution to that transformation was site selection.
The Altitude Decision
In the 1990s, Shigekazu made a decision that proved pivotal: he committed Grace Wine to planting Koshu on hillside sites at altitude (400–700m), rather than on the lower-elevation valley-floor sites where the variety had historically been grown for table fruit. The reasoning was that altitude produces:
- Better drainage (Koshu is sensitive to wet feet)
- Cooler nights (preserving acid)
- Lower disease pressure (less humidity at higher elevation)
- More concentrated flavor (lower yields, more sun exposure on hillsides)
The decision required substantial capital investment — terracing hillside sites, planting new vineyards, accepting a multi-year wait for productive vines. Many Yamanashi producers considered it a gamble; Grace’s competitors at the time generally stayed on traditional valley-floor parcels.
The gamble paid off. Hillside Koshu produces wines with a structure, texture, and aging potential that valley-floor Koshu had never shown. The Akeno, Kayagatake, Toriibira, and Hishiyama vineyards — all hillside, all 400–700m — became the production base for the next generation of Grace’s premium cuvées.
The Generational Handoff
In 2008, Shigekazu hired his daughter Ayana Misawa — French- and South African-trained — as Grace’s head of viticulture and winemaking. The handoff was structural: Shigekazu retained business and ambassadorial leadership while Ayana took technical control.
The combination produced the 2017 Decanter Gold (98 points for Cuvée Misawa Akeno Koshu 2016), the first Japanese winery Decanter Gold and a watershed for international Koshu recognition.
Why He Matters
Shigekazu is the figure who made the structural bet that fine-wine Koshu was possible. The altitude-hillside thesis — proven through 20 years of his own vineyard development — became the template that other Yamanashi producers (Aruga Branca, Mercian, others) gradually followed. The elevation of Yamanashi Koshu from "regional specialty" to "internationally serious fine wine" runs through his decisions.
Details
- Family: 4th-generation Misawa family (Grace Wine, founded 1923 by Chotarō Misawa)
- Took over: Late 1980s
- Key strategic decision: Hillside-altitude Koshu plantings, 1990s
- Daughter joined as winemaker: 2008 (Ayana Misawa)
- Notable recognition: Decanter Gold 2017 (estate, under Ayana)
Sources