Explanation of Kawachi Wine
The Katashimo Winery sheds light on the ongoing mystery of what “Kawachi wine” actually is.
We often participate in Osaka-related events. Most recently, we were part of events like the OSAKA FOOD EXPO, the Midosuji KAPPO, the Suito Osaka Kawabiraki, and the OSAKA FOOD COLLECTION, just to give a few examples. If you add “wine tasting sales” in department stores or smaller local events to the list, almost no month goes by without us being part of some event. So why all the effort to go to all these events? Well, as you could assume we want to raise the awareness for our winery and its wine and leave a good impression of our products. We get a lot of positive feedback and are happy about every occasion where we can talk directly to our customers and are always surprised by how many interesting questions we receive. Questions like “Is there more than one Kawachi Wine?” or “If so, can you tell me what the difference among them is?” This is something we get asked quite often for good reason and thus we have the firm intention to once and for all (?) resolve the confusion about “Kawachi Wine.” If you go on to read this you will -hopefully and most certainly- understand the real history of Kawachi Wine.
The secret behind the Kawachi Wine
Katashimo Winery as the Creator of Kawachi Wine
In 1976, Shochiku writer Yukio Doi visited our winery and he showed great interest in the history of wine in Osaka and wrote a script under the theme of “Kawachi Wine” which was performed for one month from March 2, 1978, in the famous Osaka Dotonbori Nakaza starring Shingo Yamashiro in the main role and actors like Obama Kaihara, Tsukitei Kacho, etc. in the cast. (Left photo)
At that time, we sold a wine named “Kawachi Wine”, which is the origin of Kawachi Wine.
Since then, we have been selling several wines under the trademark Kawachi Wine.
Three companies produce wine named “Kawachi”
In addition to our Kawachi Wine, there are also the companies Kawachi Wine Co., Ltd. and Asuka Wine Co., Ltd. that are located in Habikino City and manufacture a “Kawachi Wine” of their own.
So as a little summary our thoughts about “Kawachi Wine”
There are currently 7 winemakers in Osaka, including our company. Most of them are in the so-called Kawachi area (Kashiwara, Habikino, Taishi-cho, Yao), and we think that all of them can be labeled “Kawachi wine” no matter which of these wineries produced it. “Kawachi Wine” as the company name corresponds to Kawachi Wine Co., Ltd., which was formerly known as Kintokuya (Kintokuya Western Liquor Brewery), but the company name was changed in 1996 and has this name since that.
Getting back to the original questions: When you think about “Kawachi Wine” do you think of a company name? Or a product name? What comes to your mind when you think of Kawachi wine?
We hope that this little explanation made things somewhat easier to understand. What from the customer’s point of view might seem confusing is that “Kawachi wine” exists as a company name and as a product name. When someone talks about “Kawachi wine” in a word without giving any further context or explanation, you can only guess, whether this person is referring to a company name or product name. Therefore, in order to make it easier to distinguish from other Kawachi wines, we are actually considering changing the product name a little bit maybe to something like “Katashimo Kawachi wine” with “Katashimo” in front of the product name.
“Kawachi Wine” at Katashimo Winery is one of our brands.
At present, Katashimo Winery manufactures about 60 types of products, including the brands of “Kawachi Wine” or “Kashiwara Wine” which display the name of the region rather than other product names whose names derive from the name of the vineyard or grape variety. Rethinking this particular brand name surely is one issue that we have to work on in the future. Thank you very much for reading to the end. We are sorry if we couldn’t explain it well enough and just created more confusion. But maybe you feel like you have learned something today. We would be glad if we could contribute a little to a better understanding. One thing that is for sure is that we, the Katashimo Winery will continue to take on the challenge of making high-quality wines that our customers find delicious and that make them happy. We appreciate your ongoing support.
