Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.

For wine lovers in particular Foodex is a great show, and I hope you'll red-line the next one, March 8-11, 2000, for your visit. As usual, the last one left me with some memorable aftertastes, both literal and figurative.

The figurative aftertastes include reflections on having met so many old friends, and having made so many new ones. I'm always pleased that so many overseas wine exhibitors I meet at Foodex are reading The Japan Times during the show. My recent Wine Ways column on wine with sushi and sashimi stimulated many wine-world professionals, including Japanese wine-world professionals, to stop me and volunteer their opinions about which wines, in general and specifically, go with these Japanese delicacies. I'll be sharing some of these with you in the near future, including the wines' names and their importers here in Japan.