Fattoria AL FIORE
Kawasaki, Miyagi

Grapes: Steuben 57%, Merlot 43% (from Yamagata)
Type: Red
Style: Dry, light-bodied
Colour: Pale garnet
Alcohol: 11%
Wild yeast: Yes
Any added sulphites: No 
Filtered: No
Serving temperature: 12-16°C
Production: 2,150 bottles
Please store in a cool, dark place.

Tasting notes
Aromas of blood orange, cherry, and ripe plum mingle with hints of lily and fennel. The palate has refreshing and juicy flavors of plum, citrus, and acerola, with gentle tannins that make it easy to enjoy on its own. Upon opening, the wine may feel slightly firm; for the best experience, open it 30 minutes before drinking. With a bit of time, the fruitiness, acidity, and aromatic profile harmonize, evolving into a smooth and pleasant texture.

Food pairing
Stir-fried beef and garlic shoots in oyster sauce, duck and cilantro salad, barbecue, salt-grilled sea bass, seared bonito with garlic slices, appetizer with tapenade sauce, Thai style grilled chicken (KaiYang)

Winemaking
This wine is made from Steuben and Merlot, a table grape variety and a wine variety. The proportion of Merlot is higher than in previous years in order to add structure, depth and complexity to the wine while retaining a strong Steuben character. Both grapes were grown by two contract growers in Yamagata. The Steuben was macerated in whole bunches for 12 days. Fermentation took place in barrels and resin tanks and the wine underwent sur lie. The wine was moved to stainless steel tanks and aged in barrels for 52 days after sur lie for 4 months. Merlot is destemmed and pressed after 5 days. Fermented in resin tanks and moved to stainless steel tanks, sur lie for 4 months and then matured in barrels for 52 days. Blended at the end. The oxidative ageing elements of the old barrels were used to create a wine with fruitiness, but with a more elegant appeal rather than the monotony and thinness of a simple, table grape variety alone.

The name of the series, NECO, is a coined word combining the Italian words Nuova Esperimento (‘new and experimental’) and COoperazione (‘cooperation’) and the cats (猫 pronounced ‘neko’ ) that AL FIORE's representative, Mr. Hirotaka Meguro, lives with. Hirotaka has adopted cats he has met by chance in the fields and mountains as family members since he was a chef at a restaurant, and has named each wine after a cat, overlapping the unique characteristics of each cat with those of the wine. 

Nutrition Facts per 100ml
Energy: 73 kcal
Fat: 0 g
 - Saturates: 0 g
Carbohydrate: 1.5 g
 - Sugar: 1.5 g
Protein: 0.2 g
Salt: 0g