During the red wine boom of the 1990s, wine-crazed folks in Japan glugged trendy, robust red wines all year round. Even in the midst of muggy summers, restaurant patrons could be seen stoically sipping Cabernet Sauvignon, thick and tannic as espresso. Few wine drinkers wished to be mistaken for frivolous neophytes.
Those frenzied, status-conscious days have given way to more adventuresome, pleasure-driven wine consumption. Wine fans have discovered that in the Tokyo city heat, sipping a heavy, high-alcohol red wine is tantamount to wearing sandals with thick wool socks. By all means, go ahead if it makes you happy (both wine and fashion are more fun without slavish devotion to rules). But today, consider the wine lover's equivalent of going barefoot in the grass, with several refreshing, quaffable wines that taste and smell of spring.
We recently polled professionals from the Tokyo wine scene on their tips for good value springtime wines. The results were intriguing. For a long time, New World wines have been associated with affordability. France, on the other hand, still evokes memories of staggering bubble-era prices. These spring wine tips demonstrate how that image of exclusivity and expense no longer holds true for consumers in Japan -- these great-value discoveries all come from venerable French terroir.