Drops of god – the meeting of wine and manga

How it is possible that in Japan, the wine sales have increased by 31% since 2008? Why sales of burgundy have increased this last years by 130% in South Korea? And why in Asia are there more and more sommeliers or oenologists?

Maybe is it because of a marketing strategy from France? Is it following a concerted action by French producers?

Not at all, it’s because of… a manga.

 Create and produce in Japan by Tadashi Agi and draw by Shu Okimoto, Kami no Shizuku (The Drops of God in English) is a manga series about wine. The serie was first publish in 2004 and ended with her 44th volume in July 2014.

The story takes place in Japan, where Shizuku Kankazi (the main character) is just an employee who’s selling beers. Then, in the beginning of the story, he received news about his father, Yutaka Kanzaki a world-renowned oenologist, died. In his testament, he talked about 13 wines, the first twelve known as the “twelve Apostles” and the last one known as the “drops of god”. In order to take possession of the heritage, Shizuku will have to discover which wine it is, in a competion with Issei Tomine, a young oenologist adopted by his father one week before his death. 

Almost all of the references quoted in this manga are actual wine, even some unknown, thanks to Tadashi Agi who is a great Japanese oenologist. After an issue with a mention of the producer of Château Mont-Pérat, a Taiwanese importer sold 50 cases of Mont-Pérat in two days. Sales of Umberto Cosmo's Colli di Conegliano Rosso also grow-up by 30% after being mentioned in the manga. There are many anecdotes like this thanks to the artwork. In a publication of “The Power List” in 2009, it was saying that the work was “arguably the most influential wine publication for the past 20 years”.

(left: Shu Okimoto ; right: Tadashi Agi)

Isn’t it crazy how a manga could be this influent?