COCO FARM & WINERY
Ashikaga, Tochigi
Grapes: Petit Manseng 97% (from Yamagata and Nagano), Chardonnay 3% (from Yamagata)
Type: White
Style: Dry, medium-bodied
Colour: Medium gold
Alcohol: 14%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: 15 ppm
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 7-10°C
Production: 4,942 bottles
Please store in a cool, dark place.
Tasting notes
Apricot, pineapple, yellow peach, honey, crème brûlée, toasted bread, walnut and ginger. Ripe fruits flavour and good acidity. Complex, long finish with a bit of savouriness and bitterness.
Food pairing
Oysters, marinated smoked salmon, pumpkin and cream cheese dip, eggs benedict, stir-fried bean sprouts with fish sauce, garlic shrimp, sea bream croustillant, tempura of chicken breast inner fillet, chicken sauté with pernod sauce, creamy risotto, baba ganoush, custard pudding, goat milk cheese
Winemaking
The wine was made from well ripened grapes that were transported to the winery in Ashikaga, where the grapes were gently pressed from whole bunches, placed in tanks and fermented with wild yeasts at temperatures below 20°C to preserve the aroma of the grapes. The fermentation continued slowly for about 13 months through the winter when the yeast was dormant. Fermented and matured approximately 90% in stainless steel tanks and 10% in wooden barrels. After racking, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. The fermentation was carefully monitored, resulting in a white wine with rich acidity and a long aftertaste. The fresh fruitiness will continue until around 2027, and from 2028 onwards, maturity will settle down the fruitiness and improve the taste and concentration of the wine.
This wine is associated with 'mountain' (‘Yama’ in Japanese), with grapes from skilled contract growers in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture and Takayama, Nagano Prefecture, vinified at the winery in the mountains of Ashikaga. Petit Manseng has been grown in Mr Ogata's vineyard in Kaminoyama since 2008 and in Mr Sato's vineyard in Takayama since 2017. Since then, the variety has been carefully nurtured by the frontier spirits of the growers, and has taken root in terroir ideal for wine grapes, with a firm temperature difference between day and night.
The vintage has been selected for Japan Airlines international first class.
