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Chateau Mercian Fuefuki Koshu Gris de Gris 2021

11% abv

Vol- 75cl

Faint reddish orange hue. Sweet and gentle aromas of apricot, candied pear, Darjeeling and old Rose with subtle vanilla notes derived from 8 months in oak barrels. The complex palate from the skins and seeds of the Koshu grape come from gentle skin contact, this creates a three-dimensional feeling in the mouth.

Koshu grapes are grown in the Fuefuki district, one of the 13 cities located in Yamanashi Prefecture. Harvest takes place from late September to early October. This wine spends 3 weeks on skins to achieve the vibrant apricot-skin hue. Fermentation in a stainless steel tank at 24 to 26 degrees for about 28 days, in an oak barrel at 20 to 22 degrees for about 14 days. The wine spends 8 months in oak barrels.

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£22.50inclusive of Duty and VAT

Limited stock, only 5 remaining

As grapes were never indigenous to Japan all grapevines had been introduced to the region with the movement of the spice route and silk roads over 2,000 years. It is believed that about 1,300 years ago grapevines were introduced to Japan where the climate was too hot, cold, wet – too extreme – to grow grapes for wine.
Ultimately the existing grape variety most successfully grown in Japan became known as Koshu, which was the then name for the prefecture in which it grew. This prefecture then took the name of a Japanese prince and became Yamanashi, which remains the principal region producing Koshu. Responsible today for 40% of all Japanese grown wine grapes, it is believed to be the naturalised hybrid of a Georgian grape variety. Ampelographers continue to isolate the DNA of Koshu, but we do not actually know, outright, its source. What we do know is that it is a lurid pink on the vine, generally grown in the local tana method (overhead bamboo trellis).
Château Mercian grows Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, whilst experimenting with Albarino, Mencia and others, and has always shared its long experience of producing wine in Japan with every other producer in the region. Château Mercian is the oldest established winery in Japan, starting out in 1870 having sent two young men to France to understand wine making in the European tradition. Indeed the descendants of these two men are still growing Koshu for Mercian today.
Koshu, like many things Japanese, is all about subtlety of flavour, texture and the wine being part of a greater organoleptic experience than the wine itself, so imagine drinking this with a slurpy bowl of hot yum from a chilly noodle shop in the hills. It's part of the whole, not the whole, therefore the fruit is not overt, it's more about texture, acidity and finish rather than outright fruit flavour.

Reference #:
20099
Strength
11 ABV
Bottles per Case
12 bottles
Grapes
koshu
Organic
No
Biodynamic
No
Vegan
No
Vegetarian
No
Sparkling
No

What do I pay for delivery?

Orders under £150 are charged an initial £9.95 incl. VAT.

Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Isles of Scilly.
Orders under £190 are charged an initial £12.00 incl.

All stock bought from Bond will be charged at delivery cost as quoted by the bond. As this varies dependent on the location of the wines and ultimate destination this will be quoted to you at the point of billing for VAT and duty.

And can we change order.

Deliveries are normally between 09.00 and 17.00 Tuesday to Friday and a signature is required on receipt of delivery. (We do not ship on a Friday for Monday delivery unless specifically requested to do so).

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a further email and/or text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

If you are out a card is left, with an instruction to call the local depot to re-arrange delivery. Alternatively, you can inform us to “leave safe”, “leave with a neighbour”, “leave in garage” etc. and we will pass this information onto the courier. Please remember that, in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, alcohol will only be left with persons over 18 Years Old.

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

We use Mailsafe packaging and double walled cardboard boxes for secure shipping of all bottles. Clear labelling marked FRAGILE is applied and all our despatches.

UK mainland deliveries are overnight from confirmation of despatch with the exception of the following postcodes where deliveries are made on a 2 to 5 day service from despatch : 

IV 3 to 11, IV14 to 28, IV 40 & IV 51 to 54, IV 63. KW 1 to 3 & KW 5 to 14. PH 33 to 41

 

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