10R Winery
10Rワイナリー
Hokkaido, Iwamizawa, Japan
10R is the cellar in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido where much of modern Japanese wine has quietly been learning its craft. Founded in 2012 by Bruce Gutlove — the New York–born, UC Davis–trained winemaker who spent two decades shaping Coco Farm & Winery in Tochigi before moving north — 10R is built around a custom-crush model that scarcely exists elsewhere in Japan: a shared bench where emerging Hokkaido growers vinify their own fruit under their own labels for a five-year residency, learning native-yeast fermentation, low-sulphur work, and how to hold a Burgundian line in a climate that buries the vines under four metres of snow. The graduate list reads like a roll call of contemporary Japanese wine — Soga Takahiko (Domaine Takahiko), Kondo Ryosuke (Kondo Vineyard), Domaine Bless, Domaine Toi, Nora Kura — and most of the producers we love from Hokkaido began here. Alongside the contract work, Bruce farms 2.3 hectares of his own — the Kaze block in Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Poulsard and Gamay; the Mori block in Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Aligoté, Chenin Blanc, Savagnin and Grüner Veltliner — bottled under the Kamishoro label, with the Pinot cuvée "Kaze" recently called the best red wine in the world by Noma's head sommelier. The cellar is also home to the Coco-to-Aru (こことある) collaboration, where Coco Farm sources Hokkaido fruit and Bruce vinifies it in Iwamizawa: Pinot Noir, Pinot Rosé, and a Zweigelt now bottled in qvevri buried in the cellar floor — wines that travel the 700 km south to Ashikaga only to be released.
Winemaking Philosophy
At a Glance
2012
Founded
2.3 ha
Hectares
Region
Hokkaido, Iwamizawa, Japan
Grapes
Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Gamay, Poulsard, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris +8 more
Farming
Low-input viticulture across Bruce's two estate blocks (Kaze and Mori).
Harvest
Hand-harvest, native-yeast ferments, minimal sulphur additions, no fining or filtration where possible.
On the map
10R Winery — Iwamizawa, Hokkaido
View full map →Collaboration (2)
Wines made at this cellar but bottled under another producer’s label. Vinified here from sourced fruit, then released as part of a partner’s line-up.
Pinoroze
2022 · Still · Rose · 11.7%
98% Pinot Noir 2% Zweigelt
Pinot Noir from Kimura Farm and Zweigelt from Konishi Farm in Yoichi, Hokkaido. Carbonic Maceration takes place for 6 weeks. Fermentation in Stainless steel (50%), French oak (25%) and Cement tank (25%) with wild yeast at 10R winery.
Pinot Noir from Kimura Farm and Zweigelt from Konishi Farm in Yoichi, Hokkaido. Carbonic Maceration takes place for 6 weeks. Fermentation in Stainless steel (50%), French oak (25%) and Cement tank (25%) with wild yeast at 10R winery.
Pinot Noir
2022 · Still · Red · 14%
100% Pinot Noir
Coco Farm & Winery sits on Jurassic-bedrock hillsides in Ashikaga, Tochigi, with average vineyard slopes of 38 degrees that force every operation by hand. The estate began in 1958 as a vineyard tended by students of the Kokoromi Gakuen welfare facility under teacher Noboru Kawada; the social mission still runs through every step of farm and cellar today. The Pinot Noir is sourced from estate plots where ripening pushes hard in the Tochigi summer, and the 14% alcohol on this 2022 release reflects the climate rather than any cellar push. Wild-yeast fermentation, no herbicides or chemical fertilizers in the vineyards, all hand-work given the slope. Underground barrel cellar carved into the hillside for élevage. The result is a dense, sun-warmed Japanese Pinot Noir with genuine grip, closer to a Carneros or southern-Burgundy register than a cool-climate one.
Pinot Noir harvested at the Kimura Farm in Hokkaido, fermented with wild yeast at 10R Winery. 95% of the grapes were destemmed, while the remaining 5% was kept as whole bunches and placed into tanks. Fermentation proceeded slowly at low temperatures with wild yeasts over an extended period. After gentle pressing, 10% of the wine was transferred into new French oak barrels.