Yokohama Winery, the only fruit wine brewery in Yokohama operated by Yokohama Winery Co., Ltd. (name changed on April 1, 2019; formerly Style Japan Associates LLC (head office: Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama)), will be implementing a limited-time event until the start of the next brewing season to encourage the use of reusable bottles in order to raise awareness of current environmental issues.
Yokohama Winery is an urban winery without an orchard that opened in Yokohama in 2017. It purchases grapes from all over the country and brews and sells Japanese wine in Yokohama. (There is almost no cultivation of wine grapes in Yokohama, let alone Kanagawa Prefecture.)
As we enter our third season, we encourage actions that promote the reuse of glass bottles. Specifically, we encourage "my bottle" winemakers to bring their own containers when they come to the winery to collect wine. The winery recommends using glass containers to store liquids. We also encourage people to reuse empty wine bottles purchased at the winery. Swing bottles with lids are available for a fee for those who wish to use them.
(You can also try assembling directly from the tank to the bottle.) Swing bottles are also available.
The winery is mindful of forest resource issues and uses screw caps instead of corks. Screw caps are a hassle to remove when they are left on the neck of the bottle, making them difficult to reuse. The winery has a special screw cap removal tool on hand, which can be removed at the store.
"Please bring the bottles with you after washing the insides with hot water or something similar without removing the screw caps. We hope that people will see the benefits of bringing them to the winery rather than the hassle of throwing them away. If we can encourage manufacturers to reuse resources, it will make people feel good about their next purchase," says representative Yoshiko Machida.
In recent years, the recycling rate of resources has increased due to the improvement of garbage sorting. Approximately 70% (as of 2018) of collected glass bottles are recycled into glass bottles through high-temperature treatment, and the remainder is processed into building materials, civil engineering materials, etc. This process involves CO2 emissions as combustion energy. Glass bottles have high washability and are strong, so by washing and reusing them, the number of times they are recycled can be reduced and CO2 emissions can be reduced. During the postwar Showa era, when glass was a valuable material, it was common to wash bottles and refill them with water.
Recycling empty bottles means that the amount of wine sold will increase, which will naturally result in increased CO2 emissions. If people were comfortable with washing and reusing bottles after just one wine fill, rather than crushing them for reuse, it would help promote reuse.
At Yokohama Winery, one of the benefits of reusing bottles is that they allow users to draw wine directly from the brewing tanks. The flavor of freshly-filled raw wine (unfiltered and unpasteurized) changes daily and can only be enjoyed at the winery. There is also an experience of bottling wine yourself from a tank in the brewery, which is usually off-limits.
"Although the amount of material we can reuse as a small winery is limited, we want to take a small step as a manufacturing company working towards a sustainable society. We want to spread the word about the actions that can only be taken as a winery located in an urban area close to consumers."
*At the same time, we also collect wine bottles purchased at the winery.
<Inquiries regarding this matter>
Yokohama Winery Manager: Yoshiko Machida
TEL 090-3960-1522 ( Mobile) email: ask@yokohamawinery.com
1-3-12 Shinyamashita, Naka-ku, Yokohama tel: 045-228-9713
