電武士

news and views from michael rollins in tokyo

Author: mrollins (page 5 of 31)

Netwise launches Tokyo’s first wine portal

One of our recent projects is now online and is picking up steam in terms of traffic and membership. Here’s the “official” blurb:

Tokyo has a lot to offer wine lovers.

From world-class restaurants to standing wine bars to the massive retail and online wine trade, Tokyoites have access to an incredible range of not only wines, but wine-related events, education and—of course—wine socializing. However, keeping up with the myriad events and topics of interest to lovers of the vine has been difficult at best. But now that’s all changed, and for the first time Tokyoites have a one-stop, comprehensive resource for keeping up with and getting the most out of the world of wine here in Tokyo.

Welcome to Vinotokyo.

Vinotokyo is a community wine portal that exists with the goal of collecting and sharing wine-related information of interest to Tokyoites. It is the first and only online directory of wine bars and wine-centric restaurants in our vast metropolis, with the first comprehensive calendar of wine events such as tastings, dinners and wine parties.

Here are some of the things you can find or do there:

  • Consult the comprehensive (and growing!) restaurant and wine bar listings to discover new places in and around Tokyo to wine and dine.
  • Read and write reviews of wines, restaurants, wine shops, online stores and just about anything else in our directories.
  • Join the Vinotokyo community and interact with others in our access-protected social network.
  • Have a Facebook account? Login with your Facebook details and skip the registration process completely!
  • Check the event calendar to see what’s happening around town in the world of wine.
  • Submit new listings for your favorite wine spots not yet in the system.
    Join the forums, share tasting notes, recommendations and more.

vinotokyo

Ready to get started?

Then either create an account or login with your Facebook
credentials using the Connect with Facebook button.

Tokyo’s Coffee Shops, Best to Worse

1. Tully’s. Understated, cozy, jazzy BGM. 「アメリカノ、お湯少なめで。」
2. DEAN & DELUCA. Expensive and worth it.
3. Seattle’s Best Coffee. Very few Tokyo locations. Enjoy it at Beacon after lunch.
4. Sagafredo Zanetti. Stylish and tasty.
5. Starbucks. What’s to say?
6. Kohikan. Home to the shortest chairs in Tokyo and dated “Blue Mountain”-type offerings.
7. Pronto. My morning stop-in, mostly owing to a local lack of Tully’s.
8. Doutour. Widest demographic swath of them all. Taxi drivers sipping and smoking next to teenyboppers.
9. Cafe Veloce. The chain most often selected by salarymen for a quick meeting or post-meeting chat.
10. Renoir. Step back in time to Japan, 1985. Lots of deals and calls being made, stick-around-a-while furniture, refills.
11. Excelsior. So bad on so many levels.

Capricine 2009 Summer & Autumn Collection

Our good friends at Spoilt Inc., a Netwise client and home to fashion lingerie brands Capricine and Gatez Moi, revealed their new new lineup for Summer and Autumn recently in Shibuya. We were lucky enough to be on-hand for the event and managed to come away with a few photos of the new collection. The Capricine lingerie brand is modeled on Marie Antoinette at the time of her marriage to the Dauphin of France, Louis-Auguste, and is divided among four gorgeous, enticing lines. Their products are available in stores around Japan and also online at the Capricine Web Shop.

Online Wine Buyer’s Guide Updated

More shops and general info added to the Japan wine guide.

Let me also add a quick plug for a superb wine I enjoy this week, the Maison Abbotts Cordis (2002). This award-winning Minervois is made from 100% Carignan (!) and has won a number of awards. Carignan has never tasted this good. Highly recommended!

Review: ほの字 (Honoji)

Easily the best 本格的な和食 (authentic Japanese food) in Miyamasu-zaka-ue (宮益坂上) is to be found at local lunch favorite Honoji. I’ve been going there once every week or two for two years, and the consistently high quality and service make it one of may favorites lunch spots here in Shibuya.

The fare is standard-issue 定食 (set menu) Japanese, but the quality is a cut above the rest. The miso soup (or tonjiru, depending on the day) is always flavorful and piping hot, and the rice cooked to fluffy perfection. The lunch menu consists of four choices: hamburger steak, 生姜焼き (ginger pork), and then a fish item and a “honoji special” that change every 3-4 days each. Everything is good, all the time.

If there has been any staff turnover in the time I’ve been going I haven’t noticed it, and this surely one of the reasons why they do such a great job. The staff is friendly, attentive and professional. If you’re in the area here for lunch one day and looking for great 日本食 you should definitely give this place a try. (Menus and communication in Japanese only.)


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ムールヴェードルに首ったけ

ムールヴェードル、あるいは原産地スペインでは「マタロー」と呼ばれているこの赤ブドウは果皮が厚く、熟成が遅いブドウ品種で、最近まではあまり目立つこ とのない存在でした。むしろ品種としてはメジャーなカベルネソヴィニョンやピノ・ノワールが不足した際に、端役をやるといったワイン醸造の過程では補助的 な役割をしていました。グルナッシュやシラーなどの品種とブレンドされる時、ムールヴェードルのその濃く深い色合いとしっかりとしたタンニン、濃縮された 獣臭がワインの構造やボディを見事なまでに調和させるからです。

このようなコンビネーションのワインはシャトーヌフ デュパプ (Châteauneuf-du-Pape) などに代表されるアペラシオンのある南ローヌ渓谷によく見られますが、最近では、作り手が次々にローヌスタイルである「GMS」ワイン(グルナッシュ、シ ラー、ムールヴェードル)を生産しているオーストラリアなどでも見かけるようになりました。ローヌ渓谷のシャトー・ド・ボーカステ(Château de Beaucastel) は30%のムールヴェードルを使用するシャトーヌフデュパプとして有名です。

一方、ムールヴェードルの 土っぽい、やや匂いのきついという特徴は作り手がしばしば単一品種のワインを生産するのを断念させておりましたが、プロヴァンス地方のアペラシオン、バン ドールではムールヴェードル100%またはそれに限りなく近い割合でのワインが生産されています。ムールヴェードルはプロヴァンスのテロワールと非常に相 性が良く、バンドールは未だ正しく評価されていないこの品種のよき理解者といったとこでしょう。

アメリカでは優れた作り手が実験的にムー ベールドールを中心としたワインを生産し始めました。ワシントン州では、マクレアセラーズ(McCrea Cellars)がムールヴェードル90%、シラー10%の割合で生産したワインが批評家に称賛されています。カルフォルニアの有名なワイナリー、リッジ ヴィンヤード(Ridge Vineyards)でもまた95%の割合でムールヴェードルを使用した「マタロー(Mataro)」というワインを生産しました。

オンラインワインショップでは、ムールヴェードル種の色々なワインを購入できなす。次のは僕のおすすめです!

シャトー・ブロ シャトー・レ・ムーレール 2005
シラー60% ムールヴェードル30% グルナッシュ10%

レ・ヴィニョロン・ドゥ・テラッツ レ・ピエール・プラッツ・ルージュ 2006
シラー44% ムールヴェードル38% カリニャン18%

シャトー・ヴァニエール・ルージュ 2004
ムールヴェードル90% グルナッシュ10%

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