Nakaizu Winery Chateau T.S
Nakaizu Winery Hills is a popular tourist destination in Izu city, Shizuoka prefecture.
It was established in 1999, personally funded by Tsutomu Shida, the founder and leader of Shidax, a school-lunch and corporate-canteen food provider that runs a nationwide karaoke business.
Chateau T.S is a chalk, four-story building with a winery that stands atop a hill covered with vineyards extending about 10 ha.
The grape varieties grown at these vineyards are: Chardonnay, Shinano Riesling, Yama-Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Nakaizu’s rainy climate tends to give the grapevines diseases and lower sugar levels, but the growers use their resourcefulness by growing varieties that do well in this environment and setting up grape guards to protect the grapevines from the rain.