ZoomKita no NOVO Blanc de Blancs2017
Coco Farm & Wineryココ・ファーム・ワイナリー
Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan
About this wine
Kita no NOVO Blanc de Blancs is Coco Farm's flagship traditional-method sparkling wine, 100% Chardonnay drawn from estate plots in Ashikaga (Tochigi) and contract vineyards further north. The 2017 release is a brut bottling, fermented with native yeast and finished in the underground barrel cellar carved into the hillside above the winery. Coco Farm's slopes sit on Jurassic bedrock (clastic rocks, chert and basalt under shallow loam) at 50 to 200 metres, with 38-degree average vineyard inclines that demand every step be done by hand. The social mission of Kokoromi Gakuen, founded in 1969, runs through the operation, with residents working alongside permanent staff. 11.8% gives a low-alcohol, high-acid sparkling wine with a saline-citrus profile and the precision Coco Farm draws out of Japanese Chardonnay.
Winemaking
Chardonnay harvested in 2017 at the Kimura Farm in Yoichi, Hokkaido, fermented with wild yeast at 10R Winery then transported to Coco Farm Winery for secondary fermentation and aging.