Mercian
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History

1930's - 1960's

December 4 1934 Showa Brewery established in Tokyo
April 1935 Alcohol production begins at newly completed Kawasaki plant
March 1946 Shochu production begins at Yatsushiro plant; launch of Sanraku shochu
October 1950 Sale of base alcohol begins
May 1961 Showa Brewery acquires Nisshin Brewery and adopts the Mercian brand
July 1962 Showa Brewery acquires Ocean Co. and the Ocean brand and changes name to Sanraku Ocean

Poster of Sanraku synthetic sake in 1937.

View of Yatsushiro plant in 1949

1970's - 1980's

March 1970 Château Mercian launched
September 1974 Japan's oldest surviving wooden brewery, at Katsunuma in Yamanashi, is refurbished and reopened as the Wine Museum
February 1978 Importing and retail agreement with Spanish winemaker Codorniu for Codorniu sparkling wine
April 1985 Sanraku Ocean changes name to Sanraku
October 1987 Sanraku acquires Markham Vineyards winery in United States
September 1988 Sanraku acquires Château Reysson winery in the Bordeaux region of France
June 1989 Launch of “Château Mercian Shinshu Kikyogahara Merlot”

Mercian wine at time of launch

Château Mercian

1990's

September 1990 Sanraku changes name to Mercian
October 1991 Sales of Hakusui shochu commenced
February 1993 Mercian begins importing and retailing of Concha y Toro wines from Chile
June 1994 Launch of “Mercian Bon Marche”, the first domestically produced full-bottle ¥500 wine
October 1995 Launch of “Mercian Bistro” and Plum Liquor packs
October 1996 Launch of “Mercian Bon Rouge”
May 1997 Launch of Hakusui premium rice shochu series
December 1997 ISO 9002 accreditation obtained at all plants
September 1998 Mercian begins importing and retailing of Robert Mondavi wines from the United States
July 1999 Launch of Raku shochu distilled with bincho charcoal

2000's

March 2003 Launch of “Oishii-sankaboshizai-mutenka wine”,a delicious and additive-free wine high in antioxidants
April 2003 Launch of Pokara sweet potato shochu
June 2003 Mercian commences growing grapes in-house at Mariko Vineyard
March 2005 Launch of “Château Mercian Koshu Kiiroka”
August 2005 Launch of Sanraku Hinomugi shochu
March 2006 Launch of Kurogoho black sesame shochu, Nippon Liquor Ltd. becomes a consolidated subsidiary
September 2006 Completion of Yatsushiro Shiranuigura otsurui manufacturing facility
November 2006 Mercian signs business tie-up agreement with Kirin Brewery for alcoholic beverage operations
July 2007 Mercian becomes an operating company under Kirin Holdings
March 2008 Mercian Fujisawa plant commences bottling of Californian wine “Franzia”
September 2009 ISO 9001 acquired company-wide

Mariko Vineyard

2010's

July 2010 Daiichi Alcohol Co., Ltd. established
December 2010 Mercian becomes a fully-owned subsidiary of Kirin Holdings
June 2011 Launch of “Château Mercian Ensemble Aiakane (red), Moegi (white)”
March 2011 Launch of “St Hallett Tatiara”, jointly developed with Lion
March 2012 Launch of “Mercian every”
January 2013 Mercian becomes a subsidiary of a domestic integrated beverage company called “Kirin Company, Limited.”
 

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