This summer marks 25 years since I started working as a liquor store, and although it may seem like a cliché, it seems like a long time, but it feels like it was a short time.
So, I might be able to talk about this road better than most people.
I am the president of a liquor store that does not serve alcohol.
People always say to me, ``Well, you can open a liquor store even though you don't drink alcohol.''
I don't know how many times I've heard this line, but I also change my response depending on my mood that day.
"I can't drink alcohol, so I can understand the taste of alcohol."
"Since I can't drink alcohol, I don't touch inventory, so I make a profit."
"My whole family can't drink, so I think it's my constitution."
For people who can drink alcohol, he may seem like a great person.
I'm off topic, but I thought I'd talk a lot about alcohol from my perspective as someone who doesn't drink.
Encounter with wine
I became interested in wine at an autumn tasting event held by a 27-year-old liquor wholesaler. She was busy, but she asked me to come anyway, so I accompanied her to the venue. At that time, I remember that I forgot the year, but there was a corner where you could try six types of wine for a fee: Opus, Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, Haut-Brion, and Latour, so I asked the person in charge of the liquor wholesaler if they would let me drink them for free. It all started when I begged for something, and he kindly agreed to let me drink.
Of course, just take it in your mouth and then use the spittoon (it's like a bucket to spit out the wine you've tasted).
I remember that the rich taste of the red wine made me feel happy, and I felt a sense of superiority that I had drunk something special.
Intuitively, wine might be interesting...
From then on, I began to actively study and handle wine.
Wine investment and wine sales
I think what is interesting varies from person to person, but for me, I found the characteristics of the wine product to be very interesting, rather than the taste.
first,
The concept of "vintage"
1. There is a concept of vintage, and the evaluation changes depending on the quality of the grapes that are used that year.
Rarity value increases with time.
2. The wine made in that vintage will never be available again, meaning that as the years pass, the stock of wine from that vintage decreases and the value of its rarity increases. As the scarcity value increases, so does the price.
It matures and becomes more delicious over time.
3. Since it is aged in the bottle, it can be aged over time, so its deliciousness will continue to increase until it reaches its peak drinking age. Also, there is no expiration date, so there is no inventory loss.
Various taste expressions of wine
4. There are parts that are unclear in conveying the taste, or analogies other than food (silky, velvety throat, hints of flint, like a bewitching woman, etc.) may not suit the taste of the person. However, it is a product that somehow gets lost in the way it is expressed.
I thought this point was' interesting as a commercial product'.
Continue reading in the next article.
