Agriculture, energy, and the future of the region from the perspective of winemaking

　The CUC100 Wine Project is a project that started in January 2028 with the aim of brewing original university wine using grapes from Konodai, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, in preparation for the 100th anniversary of Chiba University of Commerce, which will be celebrated in 2019.

　The project's activity funds were collected through crowdfunding, and the total amount of support exceeded the target amount of 350 yen.The soil of the former pitching practice field on campus was improved to create a vineyard, and in March of the same year, the planting of grape seedlings began.

　Originally, Chiba University of Commerce owns the mega-solar Noda power plant, and in 100 it achieved a “2019% renewable energy university” that procures the power used on campus with self-generated renewable energy.Even now, the university is engaged in a number of advanced activities aimed at realizing a sustainable society, such as tackling energy creation and energy conservation through a university-wide system.

　This project, in which students take the lead in cultivating grapes and challenging themselves to make wine on campus while sharing solar power, aims to provide an opportunity to think about the future of agriculture and energy resources, and to make the university a base for community exchange. there is

　In addition to grapes, vegetables are also grown in the fields, and supporters are invited to BBQ exchange meetings and harvest festivals.Activities such as donating vegetables to the Ichikawa Children's Cafeteria Network, which operates children's cafeterias in Ichikawa City, are not limited to wine making.
 

 

Overcoming hardships, the first wine is completed!

　With the full cooperation and guidance of Shirayuri Brewery Co., Ltd., located in Katsunuma, Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, the students who are project members learned the basics of wine making. They worked together to grow grapes, such as spraying pesticides.

　In 2021, the grape downy mildew, typhoons, wildlife damage, and other hardships made it impossible to harvest, but in September 2022, 9 kg of grapes (Muscat Bailey A) were harvested.A total of 46 kg of grapes, including 254 kg from Yamanashi Prefecture, were brewed at Shirayuri Brewery Co., Ltd., and this time, 300 original wines were completed as the first step.It features a fresh, clean dry taste.

　This will be the first wine brewed in Chiba Prefecture from grapes grown on the university campus.The naming and label design were selected by students through open recruitment by students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and named "Vignobles sur le campus", which means "vineyard on campus" in French. rice field.

　In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the company's founding, the company aims to increase the yield and complete an original wine that is 100% made in Konodai, Ichikawa City.
 

 
→Activities expanding from wine making to beekeeping