I did it, finally. Mom, please cook me some red rice.
This is a ranking of New Zealand wines.
New Zealand came in 10th in the annual "Country Imported Wine Rankings."
Top 10 sounds good.
From my experience, I feel that more than 80% of first-time visitors to Bokumo say they have never tried New Zealand wine.
However, from now on, when such times come, I will be able to say this with pride.
"In fact, it's in the top 10 of the import rankings, so surprisingly, it has a lot of fans in Japan too!"
I hope it continues to become more and more popular.
Speaking of which, it was in the news that actors Juri Ueno and Hayato Sano were appointed ambassadors by the New Zealand Tourism Board.
Also, TV Asahi had a two-hour special about Nasu D's adventures in New Zealand. It was very interesting.
And the commercial for Kirin Imaicha starring Takahata Mitsuki was filmed in New Zealand.
Yes, the word New Zealand has been constantly being heard in living rooms across the country lately!
Then, the good news came: the country has entered the top 10 in terms of wine imports.
Maybe, just maybe.
Maybe the time has finally come for New Zealand wine to make a breakthrough!
What should I do then? I'll have to rent a new warehouse for mail order sales. Bokumo will be flooded with customers. There will be long lines.
Regular customers say things like, "Before, we could just drop in and sit at the counter."
Oh no! Mom, it's red rice!
...That's what I was talking about at the counter yesterday.
Then, from behind the counter, I was told:
"But then, if New Zealand wine becomes mainstream, then you can drink it anywhere, right?
If we do that, the novelty of what we do will disappear. So it's better for us not to become mainstream."
Hmm.
That may well be true.
If "a place where you can drink 10 different types of New Zealand wine by the glass every day" is no longer seen as a rare experience, the value of Bokumo may diminish.
If supermarkets start stocking a lot of New Zealand wines, there will be no point in buying them at Bokumo Wine.
I see, becoming major has its pros and cons.
But even if it's not major, I'd be happy if it could go from being "unknown" to having "some sort of good image."
Speaking of the majors, Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani has been causing a stir by posting a photo of a bottle of wine with "DECOY" written on it, the original name of his pet dog, Dekoping, on his Instagram story.
DECOY is a second label wine produced by Duckhorn Vineyards, a winery in Napa Valley, California.
Apparently the winery gave Ohtani a wine bottle-shaped dog toy and some real wine.
And, unsurprisingly, if you look at social media from liquor stores that stock California wines, you'll see that they're being inundated with orders.
That's nice. Honestly, I'm jealous of this special demand.
To all the wine producers watching this! If you were to create a new brand next, "Dekopin" would be...
No, that kind of cunning is the worst.
The remora marketing tactics that suck up to popular people are far from "a good image."
It seems like the best thing to do is to steadily convey the value of quality products.
Well, let's keep working hard. Aiming for the top 9 next year!
