ANAMIZU, Ishikawa Prefecture--Takashi Murayama was left speechless by the sight that confronted him when he opened the door to his winery on Jan. 3. The entire floor was swimming in dark red liquid.

Murayama, 70, had gone to check up on the Noto Wine premises here following the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that wreaked havoc across the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day.

Pressed grape juice was leaking from one of the raw ingredient tanks. The 10,000 liters of spillage, enough to fill 15,000 bottles of wine, amounted to upward of 10 percent of the winery’s annual shipment.

The ceiling of the store adjacent to the winery was cracked and bottles placed on shelves had fallen to the floor and shattered.

Although the vineyard itself wasn’t badly damaged, fissures in roads around the winery turned an otherwise 20-minute drive from his home into a four-hour journey.

Standing in a daze, Murayama confronted the possibility he might have to “close the business for good.”

Despite the destruction, Noto Wine, founded 19 years ago with the aim of promoting the appeal of the Noto region across Japan, was back on it feet in no time.

Named after its hometown, Noto Wine is now striving to provide a spark to help the local tourism industry regain vitality.

Noto Wine sits on a hill that offers a sweeping view of the vineyard. The roughly 5,000 vines at the 4-hectare site produce around 100,000 bottles of wine annually.

THE EARLY DAYS

The idea for a winery was suggested when Noto Satoyama Airport started operations in neighboring Wajima city in 2003.

Celebrating the airport’s opening, Ishikawa Prefecture picked out the grape-derived alcoholic beverage as a new local specialty to publicize the Noto region nationwide.

Chestnut groves and other plots in Anamizu and other areas covering about 38 hectares in total were redeveloped to incorporate vineyards with the help of a central government subsidy.

The first winery to rely on locally grown grapes in Ishikawa Prefecture was in place by 2005.

A semi-public entity responsible for the brewery’s management took over the operation, taking advantage of investment deals offered by regional entities such as Anamizu town and a liquor shop operator.

The project to culture grapes initially faced a succession of hardships. The poorly drained land was characterized by red clayey soil with few nutrients.

Five employees hired through the town’s recruitment campaign comprised, for example, a chestnut farmer and a liquor store owner in the surrounding area. As president, Murayama had previously served as head of a construction firm nearby. No one had any expertise in winemaking.

“We were not even in the habit of drinking wine on our own,” Murayama recalled. “Sampling the finished, we found it difficult to determine whether it was actually tasty.”

Noto Wine used manure from local livestock and locally harvested oyster shell powder to improve the soil quality. This allowed 25 grape varieties to be raised experimentally.

The winery pitched its first bottle in 2006. Its rose wine won the bronze prize in the 2008 Japan Wine Competition, while an award for encouragement was presented for a bottle of red from Noto Wine as well.

“We were surprised by the outcome,” said Murayama. “We all looked at each other, realizing the project was sufficiently rewarding for us to devote ourselves fully to it.”

Noto Wine crossbred the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variant with the Japanese crimson glory vine to perfect its signature Yama Sauvignon red wine.

The product is marked by a modest level of sweetness as well as tomato-like acidity.

Staff at Noto Wine went all-out to clean up the mess following the Jan. 1 earthquake. Bottling resumed toward the end of February. The winery’s store reopened in late April.

Murayama was content with that. But he also harbored mixed feelings about the winery’s recovery.

“Tourist spots and ryokan in the neighborhood were still in the process of reconstruction,” he said. “I felt uncomfortable knowing we were the only business near here to reopen and already considering how we could attract customers.”

Patrons of the winery showed up primarily in groups by bus. Given that it is only volunteers and construction workers who come to Noto Wine now, there is no way of knowing when they will return.

Murayama beefed up efforts to sell Noto Wine’s items via online shopping sites and local delicacy fairs held outside Ishikawa Prefecture, with an eye toward increasing the winery’s presence.

“We will not be able to get fully back on track for recovery unless sightseers come to us,” Murayama explained. “We want to show people nationwide that Noto is fine and doing well via wines crafted with our hearts and souls.”

Murayama referred to an old saying in the region: “Noto is gentle, even in the soil.”

“An attribute of wine from Noto is its mild astringency and refreshing acidity,” he said. “I want consumers to taste the gentle flavor generated in Noto’s climate.”