Petit Manseng is a small-berried, small-clustered variety traditionally grown at the foot of the Pyrenees in southwest France, near the Spanish border, where it produces the concentrated, long-lived sweet wines of Jurançon. After a research trip to the region around 1990 in search of grapes suited to Japan’s hot, humid summers, Coco Farm planted Petit Manseng at its own Ashikaga vineyard in 2006 — the first planting of the variety in Japan. The grapes have thrived in the heat while retaining good acidity, and the winery has released a Petit Manseng from its own vines every year since 2011. Fermentation is carried out with wild yeast, followed by roughly eight to nine months of aging in oak barrels before bottling without filtration.