Anime Wine Series The Drops of God Comes to Northern California!

The worldwide wine cartoon classic The Drops of God Book 5, an anime series focused on Tokyo wine bars and wine, now comes to Australia and California. The series has sold more than 3.5 million copies.

When the books launched in Korea, they had a huge impact on wine sales in the country. Here's how Reuters reported it:

"The minute it was translated into Korean, we had calls from three importers," said Basaline Granger Despagne, whose family has grown wine near France's Dordogne river for 250 years. Their Chateau Mont Perat 2001 Bordeaux appears early on in the manga.

"When it was translated into Chinese, people called us from Taiwan saying, 'I bought some Mont Perat and sold 50 cases in two days because of the manga'," she said in a phone interview.

Vol. 5 brings the main characters to Australia and to Napa where they sample wine from a variety of wineries, including many cult wineries.

Judging from readers comments on Amazon, this volume apparently jumps ahead in the story line.

In northern California the focus is on the search for Syrah...hmmm...is it really? That's what the publisher's description says: "find the naunaces of Syrah in Northern California."

The storyline focuses on Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir in Napa and Sonoma, and Syrah only from southern California vintner Mandred Krankl and his Sine Qua Non winery, in the Santa Rita Hills, in Santa Barbara County. 

The characters visit the Napa region on the wine train through Carneros, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and St. Helena.

Featured Napa wineries are:

• Kongsgaard - 2004 Chardonnay The Judge

• Marcassin - 1990 Pinot Noir (a $400 Pinot that is very high in alcohol)

• Hess - 2004 The Lion (a Cabernet that sells for around $138)

• Dominus - 1994 (a Bordeaux blend that lists for $2.500 a bottle)

• Kistler - Cuvee Cathleen (a single vineyard wine, priced around $175) from near Sebastopol

• Clos Pegase - 2007 Mitsuko's Vineyard Chardonnay from Carneros

• Etude - 2000 Pinot Noir (a $50 bottle) from Carneros

• Stag's Leap - 2004 Cask 23 (a $169 wine) from one of the best vineyards in Napa, famous from the Paris Tasting

• Opus One - 2004

• Harlan Estate

• Screaming Eagle

• Mondavi Heritage

• Caymus 2000

• Beringer 1999

• Heitz - 2004 Cabernet

Want to get filled in on the backstory? See here.

Or better yet, visit the brother and sister team, who are the authors, in this video interview below. Scroll forward to the 4 minute mark to see the story or skip ahead to 9:56 to the interview with the authors in their office/home/wine cellar.

In this rare interview, the duo says they do in fact not only taste the wines they write about but also visit the winery and meet the winemakers. It must have been fun to meet