An Unsung American Vintner Is Fostering Modern Japanese Wine

Bruce Gutlove, “godfather” of Japanese wine.

Bruce Gutlove

Japanese wine has been gaining attention in the global market these days. It seems to be following the path Japanese whisky has taken. Originally, Japanese whisky tried to model itself after Scotch and ended up establishing its unique identity over time.

Japanese wine is quite distinctive. It is characterized by being delicate, light-bodied, and often lower in alcohol. Also, many producers opt for a natural style of production. Japanese native grapes, like white Koshu and red Muscat Bailey A, are also the key factors that form its unique style.

The Japanese climate is far from ideal for producing wine, but grape growers and winemakers somehow managed to conquer various challenges, leading to the recent rapid growth of the industry.

What is the force behind it?

Bruce Gutlove is one of the key figures who have helped to shape modern Japanese wine.

Since 1989, he has worked in vineyards and wineries in Japan to bring out the potential of the Japanese climate and soil. Most notably, he led the COCO Farm & Winery in Tochigi Prefecture, which is operated by people with intellectual disabilities, to become an award-winning wine producer .

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Gutlove came to Japan by a rather fortuitous route. He fell in love with wine while he was an undergraduate in science at Cornell University and enrolled in UC Davis, the most authoritative viticulture and enology institution in the US. When he was working as a wine consultant in Napa, California, a friend of his, who was selling grapes to the Coco Farm & Winery, asked him to help improve the winery’s operations.

“I said no several times, but they kept coming at me. Eventually, I agreed, when one of the representatives from COCO Farm came to San Francisco all the way from Japan. I had lunch with him and he told me about COCO Farm and the work they were doing with the intellectually disabled people. I thought it was a righteous thing to do,” he says.

“Wine is a luxury item, quite frankly. It’s the center of my life, but it’s not a necessary item. So sometimes I feel a little bit guilty about being involved in making a luxury item. And the idea of marrying what I love to do, that is, winemaking, with the idea of helping those people with disabilities, seemed a very worthwhile thing.”

Lessons Learned From Mentally Challenged Workers

Gutlove moved to the countryside of Tochigi Prefecture, about 60 miles north of Tokyo, to consult for COCO Farm in 1989.

“When I came to COCO Farm, I didn’t ask what my salary was or how many hours I would be working. The only thing I said was that I did not want to use the excuse that we were working with mentally challenged people to settle for poor quality wine. We just had to try as hard as we could to make good wine,” he says.

“I will not lie to you: it was very, very difficult.”

But he learned many valuable lessons at the winery.

“Japanese terroir, which is mostly climate and soil, is very different from any other place I worked with around the world. I learned how to choose outside-the-box grape varieties and grape-growing techniques, along with winemaking techniques to achieve what you wanted to achieve.”

These are all technical elements, but he also learned how crucial the human aspect is to winemaking.

“The intellectually challenged folks there understood that they were outside the norms of society. Because of that, they were deeply motivated to prove their worth and contribute meaningfully, working extremely hard to create a quality product.”

One day, out of frustration, he dismissed one of them who struggled with a simple task. Seeing the worker crying, devastated by being removed from work, he realized how strongly the worker wanted to contribute. He brought him back and supported him to continue working.

“Although he was not perfect, he became and remains a valued member of the team to this day. From this experience, I learned that productivity goals matter less than dignity; patience and compassion are essential in winemaking. Sincerity with each other makes our goals achievable. Since then, they became my workmates and friends,” says Gutlove.

10R Winery: Fostering Future Vintners

In 2009, after 20 years of hard work at COCO Farm, Gutlove was convinced that the winery was able to make excellent products on its own. He left the winery to pursue his own wine-making passion.

He and his wife Ryoko Gutlove opened 10R Winery in Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, in 2012. He was already familiar with the terroir of Hokkaido.

“While I was at COCO Farm, many Japanese winemakers tried to replicate what is done in Bordeaux or Napa Valley, where the terroir is very different from Japan. So I started traveling around whenever I heard the rumor that someone was growing good grapes in Japan. I would just get in a car, drive there, walk around the vineyards and sit in living rooms with old Japanese gentlemen who were growing the grapes, eat and drink together. Then I asked them to grow grapes for COCO Farm.”

This is how he built a network of superior growers in several prefectures. Among them, Gutlove found Hokkaido the region most suitable for the style of wine he wanted to produce.

His decision was right and 10R Winery became an award-winning producer. One of his labels, Kaze, was served at Noma’s pop-up in Kyoto in fall 2025 and its head sommelier called it “the best red wine in the world”.

But this is only half of the story. He made 10R an incubator for future vintners.

“When I was buying grapes from COCO Farm, a young grower in Hokkaido offered me superior products. I said, well, I like the grapes, but I can’t pay you a lot of money for them. Then he said, “Could you make some wine from my grapes and sell the wine back to me?’ That way, he could make more money from the sale of his grapes,” Gutlove says.

“What if the grower like him learned how to make wine? That seemed like an intriguing idea.”

So Gutlove made 10R a custom crush winery as well. It is where people could learn the basics of winemaking, have someone to bounce ideas off and ask questions during the formative stages of their career. Once they felt confident, they could leave the nest and start their own winery.

Many of the successful graduates from 10R Winery include Domaine Takahiko , Nakazawa Vineyard, Nobori Jozo and Domaine Bless.　

Future of Japanese Wine

How does Gutlove envision the future of Japanese wine?

One time, he thought about moving to Italy or France to start a small winery. But decided to stay in Japan.

“I find the Japanese wine industry really fascinating. When I came to Japan, winemakers were trying to replicate what they saw in Europe. But the Japanese terroir is completely different and they were running into walls. Then, the younger generation started to aim at producing quintessential Japanese wine,” he says.

“Their passion and artistry to make great products are quite impressive. Also, people who are raised on Japanese cuisine bring their own palate to the winemaking process. This can lead to establishing a strong identity for Japanese wine. And it is not just the food—Japanese aesthetics, history and all other unique elements will be reflected in the idea. I want to see that.”