Petit Manseng 2019 was a very good wine

When I visited a winery called Coco Farm & Winery for the first time, I was surprised to see a vineyard on a steep slope.

I could imagine that agricultural work at that place must be very hard.

Although that environment is difficult for farmers, it is suitable for grape cultivation.

Thanks to the steep slope, the vineyard can get a lot of sunlight, and the drainage is good. 

Many wonderful wines are made in this winery. I’d like to introduce one of them. It is “Petit Manseng”.

It is what I recommend the most among their wines.

Petit Manseng is the name of a wine grape, and it is mainly grown in southwestern France.

In other words, Petit Manseng is a minor grape throughout the world.

I don’t know why Coco Farm & Winery has started growing this minor grape, but I think that they must have discovered that the Japanese climate is suitable for Petit Manseng. They must have learned a lot through many trial and error.

Well, I’ll give you my impression of the wine.

It had a clean, mild aroma of apricot, honey, and pineapple.

The taste of the wine was dry with rich acidity. I felt it was a very good wine.

Every wine, including Petit Manseng, is made by mentally disabled people at Coco Farm & Winery.

This winery is associated with a welfare facility for people with disabilities.

The mentally disabled people are engaged in most, but not all, of the winemaking processes.

Just to make things clear, none of the wines made at Coco Farm & Winery are developed for philanthropic reasons or to gain people’s sympathy.

It means that mentally disabled people take pride in their winemaking.

So their wine is wonderful.

Actually, I have found their wine on a wine list at a first-class restaurant in Tokyo.