Drops of God, Volume '02: Le Gouttes de Dieu

Blurb

Shizuku Kanzaki is the son of a recently deceased, world renowned wine critic named Yutaka Kanzaki. In order to take ownership of his father's legacy, an extensive wine collection featuring some of the most rare labels of the last 30 years, he must find 13 wines, known as the "Twelve Apostles" and the heaven sent "Drops of God" that his father described in his will. But despite being an only child, Shizuku is not alone in this unique wine hunt. He has a competitor. Issei Tomine, a renowned young wine critic, was recently adapted into the Kanzaki family and is also vying for this most rare of prizes.

Shizuku has never drunk, nor had any previous knowledge about wines, but with strong senses of taste and smell, honed from years of time spent with his father, Shizuku accepts the challenge, albeit with a little push from a young sommelier in training named Miyabi. In many ways his mentor and his muse, Miyabi teaches Shizuku the basics of wine and allows Shizuku to nurture his given talents as he begins his journey across the globe in search of the 13 bottles his father has selected for him to someday taste.

In the second volume of the Drops of God, Shizuku has lost his family home, and now he must go search for the first of the Twelve Apostles of Wine. Not knowing where to start, he turns to his new friends and collabrators for guidance. However, this poses a new problem. The world of wine is vast and is full of history. Where does a complete novice start? And with a co-worker who is madly obsessed with Italian wines, how will he ever find the proper perspective and direction needed to take on someone like the prince of wine criticism, Issei Tohmine?

To prepare himself Shizuku volunteers to participate in a unique wine tasting by one of Japan's up-and-coming wine traders and producers Saoin Wines. The same group that is funding Shizuku's rival Tohmine have established an event that showcases 100 unique wines together in a formal setting. This is a high-stakes wine event, where the most enjoyed wines will certainly be bought up at top dollar by the finest food and wine establishments of Asia. As a member of Taiyo Beers new Wine Sales Division, Shizuku must select the best wine at this event. And even if the labels are not the best known, he will have to trust his senses and his own judgement of taste to pick the one true wine worth sales on the market today.