Well, that certainly took a turn.

Wine pairing: Ventisquero ‘Grey’ Glacier Trinidad Vineyard Single Block Cabernet Sauvignon, 2023 – Chile

Kudos to me for choosing a Chilean Cab for my pairing this week. it just so happens Kami no Shizuku finally ventured into the new world of wine – about bloody time – and even featured a Chilean cab (Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon – one of the wines that put Chile on the wine map). It’s progress – a white, a non-French, now a New World. Chile is one of the goldmines for value in wine, especially for Bordeaux blends (as the Ventisquero is, and a good ‘un). I have to ask, though – we just started the seventh Apostle, and we’re at 20 of 24 episodes. What exactly is the plan here?

We start off with a brief callback, as Mishima-san and Anne-san tie the knot. At the reception they offer a retrospective of the first six apostles – which, for the record, would cost more than a decent-sized house in the Tokyo suburbs. Then it’s off to the villa for the teaser of Apostle #7. The theme this time is the young lion leaving the pride, full of pride himself and believing himself capable of anything. Youthful vigor and optimism – I confess, that does suggest the new world more than Europe. But given the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi tie-in, no one thought of Spain – even for a moment? It’s the #3 wine-producing country in the world, you know…

Shizuku is unsurprisingly ignorant of new world wines – he doesn’t even know the term. Miyabi-chan organizes a blind tasting in the Taiyoh Beer offices – all New World, but no American (I like her logic here, to a point). We get Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and finally the boss’ Torbreck “Woodcutter’s” Shiraz from the Barossa Valley in Australia, a much-loved icon of humble Aussie everyday wine. That’s the one that gets Shizuku closest to the image in his mind – he sees silk painting, a kind of cumulative effort to create something beautiful.

Up to now Issei and Shizuku have been like two America’s Cup yachts racing on the same layline. Now they set off on opposite tacks for the first time, each searching for the wind in different directions. That’s fitting with these wines, which are less grounded in history and expectation than France or Italy. They head to the two largest producers of new world wine – Issei and Loulan to Napa Valley, and Shizuku and Miyabi to Australia. Naturally they both seem to be assuming whatever wine Yutaka was thinking of, it’s a red – based on nothing, as far as I can tell.

Issei and Loulan do the usual one-percenter Issei thing, riding the Napa Wine Train and living the good life. They meet up with Kent Nakayama, said to be the critic that introduced American wines to Japan and clearly a hero of Issei’s. But he strayed from the true path and let money influence his reviews (that would filter out about 95% of wine criticism if we’re honest) and was punished by Bacchus with an accident which claimed his sense of smell and taste. But he has a mysterious “last project” he wants to complete, and seeks Issei’s advice on doing so.

That could prove interesting, but the real twist here is down under. Taiyoh’s Aussie rep Nadia takes our pair to her favorite restaurant, but runs into her dad there (remember, feature not bug). And it turns out Dad hates Japanese people, and that her daughter works for them. If you’re unaware, there’s a lot of extremely dark and unpleasant World War II history between these two nations – Australians were among the most numerous victims of Japanese war crimes. You almost never see animanga tackle that straight-on – how is this going to play out? It’s a minefield for sure and I’m quite uneasy about how The Drops of God navigates it, but I’m sure as hell curious to find out.