The story of our winery begins in 1950. In that year, the students of newly-opened Coco Romi Gakuen transformed the steep slopes of a local hillside into a healthy vineyard. These vineyards still stand today, directly above the present-day winery. The students were classified as mentally disabled, yet they poured their all into the mountain side. They worked from day to day, building their self esteem through the sweat produced under the blazing summer sun and in the frigid cold of the winter. Digging holes and composting the young vines, they literally planted the foundation that COCO relies on today to make quality wines.
These vineyard slopes average 36 degrees, allowing for excellent drainage. This angled slope also allows the vines to obtain extra amounts of sunlight due to its southwestern facing exposure. Conditions presented by this mountain side are considered the best environment possible for grapes. However, these same conditions make it is too steep to use any tractors or mechanical cultivators. This means that all vineyard work must be done solely by hand. Gathering prunings on the slopes in winter, carrying fertilizer up hillsides to the vines, harvesting grape clusters one by one using only their hands, hauling baskets of harvested grapes down the hill side to the winery, all these activities are carried out by the students. And through this work, the students come to develop the feelings of dignity and pride, all the while helping COCO Farm and Winery. Given the opportunity, many of these "disabled" people have mastered the art of wine making, and are considered professional farmers and winery production workers.

　　COCO Farm and Winery was founded in 1980, with assistance from the students of the Coco Romi Gakuen school. This school is based on the concept of helping mentally disabled peoples help themselves through bonding and interacting with nature, and with all life around us. It has been the hope of the parents of these students that they become self sufficient, and that their responsibilities at COCO Farm and Winery provide them with this opportunity. Towards the end of the 1980's, COCO leased vineyards in Sonoma, California as a way of broadening the experiences of the students beyond their local horizons, and as a way of securing high quality wine grapes from this famous vineyard region. Currently Coco Romi Gakuen has 90 students all dedicated to the hard work that accompanies the production of fine wine, shiitake mushrooms, and other agricultural products. The school includes 40 people above 50 years old. The oldest is an 82 year old worker.
In addition to this, COCO Farm and Winery itself has 15 staff members who are classified by the Japanese government as mentally handicapped. In a word, half of our staff at COCO are senior, mentally disabled people. Slowly but steadily they continue to work
with younger farmers in the vineyard to secure their shared future.

　　COCO does not have an expensive layout like grander, more famous wineries. But, we have something that no other winery has. We do not produce much wine and our budget is slim, leaving us with little. However, these many little things are of great value to us. Our labor force is a group of people who are more than dedicated, and we take pride in their work. They have chosen to be the core of the winery, and we respect this, knowing that they do their jobs to the best of their abilitites, day in and day out. Some are unable to even write their own names, yet they are proud of what they do for COCO. The wines offered at our vineyard are bottled by the farmers/mentally disabled who work with the hope that they may spend the rest of their lives peacefully and quietly at COCO. Some may do nothing more than cut grasses, collect small rocks, and chase off crows, but they will always be respected as important people who have contributed to COCO.

　　Getting old brings our tomorrows closer and closer. If tomorrow repeats, we all become old men and woman. " Tomorrow I will try harder". Most students try their best every day, yet they say they will try harder the next day. Giving them our complete support drives their self esteem and motivation, and carries them on through to tomorrow.

2001 January
COCOROMI-GAKUEN

Principle Kawada, Noboru
Faculty