History of Tokuoka Primeur

TOKUOKA Primeur history of Tokuoka Co., Ltd.

As a pioneer of the wine business, we want to bring the whole wine culture to Japan.

It was about 30 years ago that I started en primeur business in Bordeaux. At that time, Bordeaux wine was not well known in the Japanese market. As a result, the price was unimaginably cheap today, around 200 francs at top chateaux such as Chateau Margaux. Chateau Lausan Segura, rated 2 in Margaux village, was about 80 francs and did not cost 2,000 yen. I bought a container of Chateau Rauzan Segura, so it seems that I have become a bit of a celebrity in Bordeaux, where Japanese people are still sparse.

Even now, whenever I visit Bordeaux, I am both embarrassed and happy to be told that Mr. Tokuoka is a legend. After that there was a blank and re-entered Bordeaux-Primeur in 1998.
And it's been 20 years since then.

Held the only tasting event in Japan. I want to offer the realism of en primeur.

Now let's talk about the Bordeaux-Primeur wine tasting.
This year marks the 12th time since the Bordeaux Primeur Wine Tasting Event was first held in Japan.
I have participated in the tasting event in Bordeaux every year, but one day I wondered if it would be possible to hold this tasting event in Japan.
We sometimes hold tastings in the chateau's warehouses and facilities, but sometimes we gather a lot of wines at facilities outside the chateau and taste them all at once. My first thought was that if I could take it outside the chateau, I could bring it to Japan.

However, there were various difficulties and challenges in transporting wine that was still aging in barrels to Japan, which is 10,000 kilometers away. Even small changes in temperature can have an effect on wine. In the chateau, we had a detailed meeting on the day of bottling from barrels, collection, flight, and customs clearance. In the beginning, Mr. Jean-Luc Thunevin, the owner of Château Valandreau and Jean-Luc Thunevin, the owner of Château Valandreau, and Geneste of Negociant, who we are on good terms with, came to Japan at the same time as our tasting party to check the quality. Thanks to the fact that we overcame such an unreasonable challenge together, we have now established a strong relationship of trust. And thanks to this continuous effort for Bordeaux wine, a thick pipeline with top chateaus such as Chateau Margaux is still maintained.

And it is our pleasure and pride to be able to deliver Bordeaux wines and en primeur wines to Japanese customers.

HISTORY

  • 1983

    Started wine import business
    Partnered with Sanyo Electric Trading Co., Ltd. (a trading company of Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (currently a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation)) and started wine import business. Established Sanyo Liquor Sales Co., Ltd. with a capital ratio of 60% Tokuoka Co., Ltd. and 40% Sanyo Electric Trading Co., Ltd.

  • 1985

    Concluded an agency contract in Japan with Louis Echenois (France)
    Started sales of Bordeaux brands such as Louis Echenois, Chateau Olivier, and Chateau Lagarde.
    Concluded agency agreements with Bordeaux top chateaux one after another
    Concluded an agency agreement with Chateau Lauzan-Ségla and Chateau Smith Haut Lafite, which had been owned by Louis Echenois.

  • 1987

    Château Rauzan Ségla ceases production in 1987
    Chateau Rauzan Segura made a wise decision to stop production because the quality of the 1987 Cabernet Sauvignon did not meet the standards.

  • 1989

    May Entered the Bordeaux en primeur business
    Entry into en primeur business. The 1988 Bordeaux harvest was above average, and we purchased 100 cases of Chateau Lausan Segura and 50 cases each of red and white Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte.

  • 1990

    May Purchase a large quantity of Bordeaux top chateau 1989
    800 cases (1 container) of Chateau Lausan Segura, and a total of 300 cases of top chateaux such as Chateau Margaux, Chateau Latour, and Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

  • 1991

    May Purchased as in the previous year
    1990 was even more excellent, so we purchased 1000 cases of top chateaux, chateaux lauzan segura, and chateau smith au lafitte.

  • 1994

    Chanel buys Château Lausan-Ségla
    Louis Echenois sells its owned chateau, and sells Chateau Lausan Segura to Chanel, a famous fashion brand.

  • 1995

    Termination of partnership with Sanyo Electric Trading Co., Ltd.
    The partnership was terminated due to the circumstances of Sanyo Electric Trading Co., Ltd. Started own import business.

  • 1995

    Temporary withdrawal from the Bordeaux en primeur business
    There is a change in the Bordeaux negociant power map, and the allocation of en primeur wine is on a downward trend.

  • 1998

    Re-entering the Bordeaux en primeur business
    Relaunch the en primeur business with allocations from new négociants such as CVBG, Geneste and Jean-Luc Thunevin.

  • 2003

    Chateau Latour tasting party held in Osaka
    Chateau Latour tasting event held at Nikko Hotel Osaka, attracting attention.

  • 2004

    Negotiations to hold en primeur tasting event in Japan started
    Unprecedented, jump out of Bordeaux and Europe, and start negotiations to realize a tasting event in Japan, 10,000 km away.

  • 2006

    Held the first en primeur tasting party (Tokyo and Osaka)
    With the cooperation of 23 Bordeaux chateaux, Bordeaux Primeur tasting events were held in Osaka and Tokyo. With the full cooperation of Mr. Jean-Luc Thunevin, the head of Chateau Valandreau, and Geneste, it was a great success.

  • 2009

    Chateau Margaux tasting event and dinner party held (Tokyo/Kyoto)
    Under the direction of Mr. Paul Pontallier, general manager of Chateau Margaux (died in 2016), banquets and tastings will be held in Tokyo and Kyoto.

  • 2011

    November Château Margaux holds a charity event to support the reconstruction of the Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear power plant.
    With the cooperation of Mr. Ball Pontallier, general manager of Château Margaux, we held an event to support the recovery from the Tohoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident in collaboration with Enoteca Co., Ltd., Fiennes Co., Ltd., and RSN Japan Co., Ltd. Chateau Margaux offered the 1868 of the same wine for auction and it was sold for 2.5 million yen. The total amount of donations at the event will be 13.5 million yen, and we will give 28 million yen to each city in Fukushima Prefecture, including our company's donations.

  • 2012

    June Company trip to Bordeaux, visiting the famous Grand Chateau
    In 2012, our company, which has many wine-loving employees, held a company trip to Bordeaux. We visited famous chateaux and were welcomed by all of them because of our longstanding efforts in Bordeaux and en primeur business.