"Please don't drink too much," screeches a man wielding a megaphone, but he's a bit too late because half the genteel crowd are already totally hammered. It's not surprising, really, seeing as there are around 70 wines to sample and there's not a single spittoon in sight.
It's a mid-week mid-day in Hibiya Park, Tokyo. The crowd gathered by the fountain are enjoying the sunshine, the um-pah-pah of a nearby brass band and copious amounts of freshly bottled wine.
Yamanashi Nouveau tastings during November are a great opportunity to assess the quality of the year's harvest from Japan's most famous wine region. As with Beaujolais Nouveau, this is an incredibly young wine, bottled almost straight from the harvest. The practice of drinking Beaujolais Nouveau, made from the Gamay grape, from the third Thursday of November is often criticized by wine experts who feel the wine needs some time in the bottle to develop its flavors.