Wine Offer #3 The One Note Case

The first of a series of value mixed case offerings

Dear Friends,

This week we launch our competition to find the cheapest (drinkable) bottle of wine in Japan. 

Wine consumption has been steadily growing over the last few years, with at home consumption rising fastest. Next to the beer selection in your average supermarket and combini you can now find a decent selection of palatable if not exciting wines that are perfectly palatable for a weekday night at home. In my local supermarket the selection seems to grow daily; in addition to various varietals under the Chilean Cono Sur label at under JPY 1,000 there is also currently a special offer on Dom Perignon at around JPY 13,000. Up the road from the bar there is a branch of Aeon's budget My Basket store, where the basic Chilean red is only JPY 380. We find that another JPY 100 buys something that is perfectly decent wine for our coq au vin.  Meanwhile over at D2, lurking somewhat incongruously among the bottles of Pocari Sweat, cat litter and saws, is another JPY 300 odd bottle from Chile - whether the label is deliberately offputting to avert the inevitable blindness that comes from drinking the wine is unclear.

We invite readers to submit candidate wines for the cheapest drinkable in Japan. We will pick the top 12 and organise a tasting to be held later on next month. The winner will be handsomely rewarded - not with a case of the (offending) wine - but with a bottle of decent champagne. Free glass of wine @ Parabola for all entries. Closing date: 31 May.

In the meantime we launch the first of our value selection cases, the One Note Case. Not a JPY 380 bottle in sight (that would be a different note), these are all wines with personality that we believe represent fabulous value for money. This will be followed by increasingly superior offerings for JPY15,000, JPY20,000 and JPY 25,000.

The One Note Case - mix your own selection of some of the best value wines available in Japan

Price: JPY 10,000 / 6 bottle mixed case

Number of cases available: 10

Availability: delivery within one week

How to order:

Simply reply to this mail stating how many bottles you want and your selection and we will contact you for payment and to arrange delivery.  Free delivery to your door or collect from Parabola. Wines may also be drunk at Parabola for a JPY 1,000 corkage fee.

Sparkling

Hugo Rose Brut - delicious fruit-filled pink sparkler from Austria made from Austria's indigenous black varietal, Zweigelt

White

2012 IGP Coteaux De Bessilles Sauvignon, Felines Jourdan, Languedoc Roussillon, France - crisp, zingy fruit-filled smoky Sauvignon from this talented producer in the south of France.

2011 IGP Coteaux De Bessilles Chardonnay, Felines Jourdan, Languedoc Roussillon, France - medium bodied, soft and silky, this very elegant wine has fine, creamy flavours of oranges and apples, melon, hazelnuts, and acacia honey. Stylish, refined and brilliant value.

2011 Dao Brianco, Quinta da Pellada, Dao, Portugal - Portugal is producing delicious table wines. We love this white made by avant garde producer Alvaro Castro from native varietals Bical, Cerceal and Encruzado. The wine has citrus flavours combined with a lovely mineral structure.

Red

2011 Gaba do Xil Mencia, Telmo Rodriguez, Valdeorras, Spain - following in the footsteps of gastronomic triumphs such as El Bulli, Spain is on a wave of wine-makingquality and innovation based on the country's hundreds of original grape varieties.

2011 Rocher de Vierge Vieilles Vignes, Coteaux du Languedoc, France - from the little known and under appreciated Terrasses du Larzac area in the south of France, this Syrah and Grenache blend has perfumed black raspberry, morello cherry, liquorice and mineral character.

2011 Dao Tinto, Quinta da Pellada, Dao, Portugal - the equally delicious red version of Alvaro Castro's white, again made with a blend of esoteric only-in-Portugal varietals.

2012 The Daily Red, Central Coast, California - made from a blend of 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache, this is a delicious go to daily quaffer from California brimming with mulberry, black pepper, blackcurrant, smoked meat and mint.

Try before you buy:

All wines we offer will be available for tasting at Parabola so you can buy in complete confidence.

Wine storage:

No space to store your wine? Don't worry, 12 bottle cases come with three months free warehousing in our temperature controlled facilities in Shinagawa. Bottles can then be delivered from the warehouse for collection at wine bar Parabola.

Thank you,

Richard Dawson

Parabola

Tokyo, Japan

"Wine makes all things possible."