Winery Overview
When Takahiro Koyama, owner & winemaker of Koyama Wines came to New Zealand in 2003, it was to study Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University. He was offered an opportunity to work with CP Lin at Mountford Estate as a cellar hand while he was a student at Lincoln. Once he graduated in 2006, he became assisstant winemaker at Mountford. Takahiro also traveled overseas several times to experience different winemaking styles around the world. First it was Weingut Keller in Rheinhessen, Germany in 2006 and then it was Au Bon Climat in Central Coast California in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, as Takahiro continued working at Mountford, he started to make his own wine with Pinot Noir and Riesling grapes sourced from local growers and established his own brand, Koyama. After 11 years Koyama had become a full-time endeavor, but in 2017 Takahiro and a group of investors purchased Mountford Estate, which means he came back to the starting point of his winemaking career where he has a lot of fond memories. In 2017 with investment from Japan, Koyama Wines Limited purchased Mountford Estate and now all Koyama wines are produced at Mountford except for Riesling Sparkling Brut and Brut Nature which were added to the list in 2018.