Crafted by one pair of hands, on the other side of the earth.
Born in 1967 in Kurashiki, Okayama. When the travel company he worked for launched its US branch, he was the sole winner among some 1,000 internal green card applications — and in 1996, he crossed the Pacific.
He rose to head the San Francisco branch, yet found himself drawn to Napa on business trips. One night, his first taste of Cabernet Sauvignon moved him to tears — it was that beautiful.
"Someday, by my own hand."
When the president personally offered him a promotion to the LA headquarters, he chose instead to decline — and resign. In 2000, with no connections at all, he walked into Inglenook, the estate of Francis Ford Coppola — opening the door to the world of wine from the tasting room, as its Japanese guest liaison.
In 2014, at 47, he went independent. The following year came his first vintage, PAULOWNIA 2015 — and a new Japanese name was quietly etched into Napa.
Trained by two masters, at Coppola's Napa estate.
Inglenook — founded in 1879, a 235-acre legend spreading across Rutherford. In 1975, Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather, acquired the estate.
Hayashi joined in 2000, in the hospitality department. But the more he touched Napa's soil and grapes, the more his fascination with winemaking grew beyond restraint.
After work, on his days off, he volunteered in the cellar. His dedication was noticed, and in time he was transferred to the winemaking department — the moment a man from hospitality came to stand on the side of those who make wine.
Scott McLeod pursued 'fruit-forward wines of pure deliciousness'; Philippe Bascaules pursued 'elegance.' For 14 years, Hayashi inherited both ideals directly, working at their side.
With Scott McLeod — the man who first opened the door.
Behind the bottle, a quiet man.
Some said going independent at 47 was 'too late.' He answered: 'It is exactly right.' The number — 150 cases a year — has never moved since.
International acclaim never passes his own lips. He rarely appears in Japanese media. 'The wine speaks more surely than I do' — that is his way.
'As a winemaker, I am not someone who merely gives instructions,' Hayashi says. He inspects the grapes, tastes the barrels, fills the bottles — insisting on making everything with his own hands.
"Hayashi's wines listen quietly — first to the land, then to the voice of the wine itself."
矢田部 匡且 Masakatsu Yatabe ／ CWO STELLA · EDITION Toranomon
In my own words.
"Winemaking succeeds neither by art alone, nor by science alone."
I want to express the goodness of the grapes just as the vineyard gives them. Not an overpowering, impressive wine — but a balanced, elegant one. Facing the terroir, the weather, the condition of the fruit day by day, I draw out the fullest potential that Cabernet holds within.
Five years in St. Helena. In 2020, the year of the wildfires, I gave up the vintage. In 2022, I opened a new chapter at Oak Knoll. The vineyard has changed; the way I face it has not.
However limited the production, I want to keep making wine of steady quality — patiently, steadily, with careful, honest work.
With every single bottle, I picture the face of the person who will drink it. "As long as there is someone it brings joy to, I want to make even better wine."