COCO FARM & WINERY
Ashikaga, Tochigi
Grapes: Norton 81%, Tannat 12%, Petit Verdot 7%
Type: Red
Style: Dry, medium-bodied
Colour: Medium Ruby
Alcohol: 10.0%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: 2 ppm
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 16-18°C
Production: 1,541 bottles
Please store in a cool, dark place.
Tasting notes
Blueberry, plum and pomegranate, with gorgeous impressions of jasmine and lavender. Complex layers of forest floor, botanicals and dried potpourri. The palate is elegant, with a smooth acidity and soft, balanced tannins that tighten the palate and lead to a long finish with Umami. The wine should be enjoyed slowly, as the aroma changes significantly in the first hour or so after corking.
Food pairing
Boiled tomatoes in bonito-flavoured soy sauce, marinated bell peppers, spring rolls, char-grilled matsutake mushrooms and ginkgo nuts, conger eel sukiyaki hotpot, saltimbocca, boudin noir, Genghis Khan, green curry, black vinegar pork, Beijing duck, fried liver and garlic chives, duck shao mai, grilled beef tongue, chevre, red cherry pie.
Winemaking
Concerto in R is a wine made from red wine grape varieties Norton (Cynthiana), Tannat and Petit Verdot from their own vineyards. In order to produce delicious wines in a changing climate, the winemakers themselves have visited wine regions all over the world in search of the right grape variety for the right place, and have actually grown these varieties in Ashikaga and Sano in Tochigi. The Norton from the rainy east coast of the USA and central Missouri, the Tannat from Madiran in southern France, and the Petit Verdot from Bordeaux. These healthy, flavourful grapes are carefully harvested and fermented with wild yeast. Norton was vinified in two ways: first, whole bunches are placed in stainless steel tanks for one month of carbonic maceration at about 18°C before pressing; second, the grapes were hand destemmed and placed in Mashiko ware pots for 7 to 12 days before pressing. Tannat and Petit Verdot were hand destemmed and each placed in the pots for 18 days before pressing. The three varieties were then blended to give the wine balance and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Concerto in R is an unpretentious wine made in harmony with nature, where R stands for Red (English), Rouge (French) and Rosso (Italian). A red wine that is like a concerto, with the red of the wine bringing out the best of each other.
Coco Farm and Winery's own vineyards are managed by the students of Kokoromi Gakuen. The vineyard was cultivated in the 1950s by mentally handicapped junior high school students and his teacher. The vineyard, which has never been sprayed with herbicides since it was cultivated, is home to many flowers and insects and attracts a variety of birds and small animals. In these Ashikaga and Sano vineyards, students from Kokoromi Gakuen pick up pruned branches, cut grass, hang umbrellas and bags over the grape bunches and look after the grapes all year round.
