MCLAREN VALE, Australia — The hugely popular comic book series "Kami no Shizuku" ("Drops of God") that follows the international adventures of two brothers in pursuit of the perfect wine was largely unknown in Australia.
That was until one of the country's oldest wineries got a mention.
The "manga," approaching its fifth year of publication, is penned by the brother and sister team Shin and Yuko Kibayashi, who write under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi.
It appears weekly in Morning magazine, and the story line reads like a wine enthusiasts' ultimate fantasy. Acclaimed wine critic Yutaka Kanzaki dies, leaving a ¥2 billion collection that will be inherited by the son who fulfills his cryptic quest to find the world's best wines.
The plot sees our hero, Shizuku Kanzaki, pitted against his adopted brother, Issei Toomine, as they battle it out to locate 13 of the finest wines ever produced.
In his will, Kanzaki states that the brothers must first find 12 wines known as the "12 Apostles" and finally uncover the greatest wine on Earth, dubbed the "Drops of God."
As the adventure unfolds, the pair travel to the world's esteemed wine regions, particularly in France. But recently they paid a visit to the lush hills of McLaren Vale, in South Australia, an area renowned for its reds.
Here Kanzaki tries a wine called Laughing Magpie, 2006 Shiraz Viognier, which is produced by d'Arenberg Wines, located 40 km south of Adelaide.
Established in 1912, d'Arenberg is a 450-hectare family-owned winery that combines time-honored European traditions with Aussie ingenuity.
Kanzaki describes the Laughing Magpie 2006 as "very good. I didn't expect much from a wine under a screw cap . . . it's spicy and overflowing with energetic life . . . it's both exotic and made for normal people at the same time."
Chester Osborn, chief winemaker and great-grandson of founder Joseph Osborn, agrees wholeheartedly with Kanzaki's description.
While Japan still prefers old world, European wines sealed with cork, the vast majority of wines in Australia are now sealed with screw caps.
Osborn's father, D'Arry, managing director of d'Arenberg Wines, strongly advocates their use.
"Screw caps are a much better closure for our types of wine because they keep the freshness and the wines mature beautifully," the gentle elder Osborn said.
Chester Osborn said he knew the 2006 vintage of Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier was going to be special because of ideal conditions that year.
The experienced winemaker said a wet winter, spring and further rain in summer encouraged the grass to flourish between the vines.
This grass acts as competition for the vines and leads to a better balance of nutrients and more refined color and flavor.
With an average yield of 3.8 tons per hectare, Osburn said d'Arenberg Wines rivals the finest Grand Cru of Burgundy and Bordeaux in terms of low-yield, high-quality vines.
Chester, 47, and his father, 82, admit they'd never heard of manga before "Kami no Shizuku" but were proud to be featured in it.
Chester believes the comic book style enables more "personality" to be injected into a wine.
"It adds more fun, of course it's not just a technical review, it's not just a wine columnist's opinion, instead it's someone from the real world wanting to do it in a very humorous way," Osburn said at his McLaren Vale winery.
A good review in this manga series sends its 360,000 weekly readers into a frenzy and sparks a mad rush to snap up bottles of the featured wine.
Also published in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and France, a mere mention in "Kami no Shizuku" can provide a substantial boost to a company's wine sales.
Even before the "Kami no Shizuku" installment hit the stands, all bottles of the Laughing Magpie 2006 Shiraz Viognier were sold out in Japan.
Kyobashi Wine Liquor Shop, an online wine seller, snapped up the last 120 bottles after it learned the wine was included in "Kami no Shizuku."
The online shop has a page dedicated to wines featured in the manga.
Wataru Takeno, who manages the Australian wine category for the online store, said the manga has definitely raised interest in Laughing Magpie 2006, which falls into the higher end price category.
"The 120 bottles sold in a month is a very good result for wine (in the) ¥3,000 price (range) and for Australian wine," Takeno said.
Richard Cohen, 59, d'Arenberg's Japanese importer, believes the manga is so popular in Japan because of the lack of Japanese-language wine reviews.
"There's so much wine from all over the world in Japan and there's not much press in Japanese, most of it is in English," Cohen said.
He said "Kami no Shizuku" has a unique way of informing people which wines are worth trying.
Now published in four languages, the manga continues to educate and entertain wine drinkers across the globe.
Its publisher, Kodansha, said it has been inundated with inquiries about an English-language version.
The company said it hopes to put one out in the near future.
By KEDE LAWSON
Kyodo News
