On Friday, Nov. 21, the day after the worldwide release of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau in France, I joined a gathering of some 100 wine-lovers in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront district to welcome the new, jet-lagged plonk to these shores.
However, our meeting point was neither a bar nor a restaurant. It was at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.
The event there, named "Tasting & Testing," was for people wanting to learn exactly how human beings taste the flavor of wines — including young French reds like this. To kick off proceedings, Takako Tsuchino, science communicator at the museum, asked the participants why they love wines.