I will now read the text for the Fourth Apostle.
It's a clear day in May, and I'm sitting under a sunny blue sky.
I recline beneath a large tree, its leaves gently shielding me from the sun.
as I look upon a bright garden.
Suddenly, I open up the old book I'm carrying:
"You're so young, you've only just started to braid your hair."
"When I see you beneath the apple tree,
the flowers in your hair remind me of a crown."
"You reach out your gentle pale hand and offer me an apple."
"When I look at the mellow red autumn fruit,
I feel love for the first time."
"I let out a sigh, and my breath reaches your hair."
"If you would only accept my love,
I could taste the wonderful drink of romance."
"Beneath a tree in the apple orchard,
you ask me how the path we trod to come here was made."
"And I love you all the more."
How beautiful.
It's like a poem.
It is a poem. It's called "First Love."
Shimazaki Toson, eh?
I slowly stand,
and I walk through the flower garden while reciting the poem I've memorized.
I recall a distant memory of a girl's sweet smile,
losing myself in the smell of fresh leaves
and the scent of soil just after the rain that comes from beneath my feet.
And then I find myself in the center of the garden.
A dazzling harmony of flowers crimson, cherry, fuchsia, white...
I gently pluck a reddish-purple blossom
and suck the nectar from its stem, as I once did with that girl.
Its sweetness is clear, unfiltered, and faint.
It is silent and never boasts.
It softly reminds me of the girl in my memories,
her smile and her sweet kiss.
This wine reminds me of my first love.
So, what's the plan?
Go on another wine-hunting trip with Loulan?
Oh, Kobayashi-kun?
I want you to clear my schedule for the next three weeks.
See? I knew it.
While I'm gone, use your knowledge and Loulan's senses to do the work.
Yes.
Thank you.
Where are you going, Tomine-sensei?
To look for someone.
I know what the Fourth Apostle is!
Just you wait! I'll bring it right here!
While we wait, Kanzaki-kun, I have a job for you.
Huh? For me?
Yes.
From CEO Mishima of Burgundy Rouge.
You've met before, haven't you?
This is Makabe Sosuke-sensei, the musician.
It's been a while.
Thank you so much for your help before.
Makabe-sensei is putting on an event set aboard a luxury cruise liner,
featuring wine and music.
How wonderful!
Now, Kanzaki-san, I'd like you
and Taiyo Beer's wine division to handle the wine.
As it is the ship's maiden voyage,
I want the theme for the musical performance to be "first love."
First love?
I will be coordinating the food menu.
But we have a problem.
I invited a Japanese violinist all the way from Europe to be our concertmaster.
She told me that the wine I was planning to serve didn't match the music.
Kanzaki-san, I believe you'll be able to find a solution to this difficult dilemma.
Wanna drink something or buy something?
I came to ask where I can find someone.
A woman who was here two years ago.
Her name was Julietta.
Sorry. Don't know her.
I see.
Do you have any wine?
Why the hell would we have wine—
It's been too long, Issei!
It sure has, Jacques.
Mind your tongue around this guy.
He saved my ass when I was buying wine en primeur in France.
H-Hello there.
Let's do that part again.
It feels too cheerful for the theme of "first love."
But this song opens with faint hopes for the future...
Let's take a little break.
Kanzaki-san, let me introduce you.
This is Aki Sonata-san, our concertmaster.
Um, it's been a long time...
It's nice to meet you.
I'm Aki.
Pardon me...
I'm Kanzaki Shizuku.
I'm asking these folks to select the wines for the performance.
I see.
I hope they can come up with something to match my image of first love this time.
I'm finally done...
That instructor is scary.
Who's taking lessons now?
What gives?
I knew it! You're Japanese!
I-I am. What of it?
Not many people fall asleep when they hear me play the violin, you know?
Hey, you play too?
My dad makes me, is all.
Play for me.
No way.
You suck.
But you've got an uncanny ability to express yourself.
R-Really?
You never got compliments from the instructor, do you?
Maybe I should teach you instead.
I've been in France for so long, I want to speak more Japanese!
Are you lonely?
It's an upbeat song,
but the melody sounds so lonely.
Like you're stuck home alone on a rainy afternoon.
You're weird. You know that?
I'm Sonata.
I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
I could never forget it.
It's the same.
No, even more so now...
It's such a lonely sound.
That was an amazing performance.
And this is perfect, right?
Since the theme of the Fourth Apostle is also first love.
Shizuku-san?
Are you that interested in her?
Excuse me, Sonata-san!
Do you have plans this evening?
Miyabi-chan?
This is the wine she loved.
I can't say no to you.
I'll look into her for you.
But you know, Issei...
The Julietta you knew is gone.
You know that, right?
Even if that's true, I have to face her.
To face my fate...
Cheers!
Signorina,
it's such an honor to enjoy vino with a lovely woman like yourself!
You speak Italian?
No way! She's not even bothered!
Piacere. Come stai?
Oh, well...
You finally smiled, Sonata-san.
That part of you hasn't changed since you were a kid.
So you do remember me.
I do!
And this wine made me remember how I felt back then.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
That time in the garden...
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed wine in such a cheerful setting.
You usually drink alone?
No, I used to drink with my fiancé.
Wh-What's he like?
He's a contrabassist, two years older than me.
My mother and his father played together,
and at some point, we wound up engaged.
But he suddenly left the country to come back to Japan.
I don't know why, exactly.
It was eight years ago.
Was he your first love?
That's the theme of the upcoming concert, after all.
And you're here in Japan!
Let's find him!
What's his name?
What does it matter? Forget him.
Right?
His name is... Shijima.
Oki Shijima.
Shijima?
Huh? I feel like I heard that somewhere.
L-Lemme go check it out!
Is this Shijima guy famous?
Is he?
Here you are.
A wine that turns love into memories.
Shijima!
When I drink this wine, I recall the first time I went to France.
I had no money, so expensive wine was out of the question.
But this one I found in Bordeaux was cheap enough to drink.
I can still remember how I felt in that moment,
although I'll never experience that feeling again.
Even if you're reunited with your first love,
he won't be the person in your memories.
Right.
18 Years Ago Karuizawa
Here. Use this.
Th-Thank you...
Julietta!
I came to get you!
Father! Oui!
Julietta...
Hey, Issei, is this really okay?
It's fine.
My father owns this place.
Wow!
Pick a wine, Julietta.
And make a little mark on it.
When we grow up, we'll drink it together.
Really?
Okay, this one.
An '82 Clos des Lambrays, huh?
This vintage has a strong acidity, and it takes time for the flavor to balance out.
I'm sure it'll be at its peak by the time we're adults.
You know all that?
Of course I do.
I have to.
Because I'm going to surpass my father.
The world of wine is everything to him.
And it'll be there that I do what he couldn't—
Julietta?
You shouldn't be suffering when you drink wine.
We French drink it to be happy.
Do you understand, Issei?
This bottle has blossomed beautifully.
I found her.
Are you brave enough to hear it?
The terrible story of what happened to your first love...
This is...
A park, right?
That's right.
I take this way home from work.
Shijima! Shijima!
Oh, here we go.
Shijima!
The main attraction is here!
He didn't betray me...
He found what he really wanted to do!
Her performance and her personality have both changed for the better.
Did you cast a magic spell on her?
We weren't the ones who cast it, right?
Right.
Anyway, now all that's left is the wine, Kanzaki-san.
I think I can find it now...
The wine of first love.
Gracious, what is he up to?
He's not picking up at all.
Issei, where are you?
What are you doing?
I took a liking to Japan after we met.
What do you think? This is my place.
2 Years Ago
You mostly sell hard liquor, huh?
I just drink wine. I don't sell it.
But we get a few folks who know it well.
For example...
Bonsoir, mons—
Bonsoir.
Julietta?
I thought you went back to France.
I couldn't find work there.
I've changed, haven't I?
Yet I knew you at first sight.
Likewise.
You look so much stronger than before.
So filled with confidence.
And...
more than ever...
So much lonelier.
Welcome, Issei-san.
Murakoshi-san, I see you haven't changed.
That's not true at all.
I've grown old.
Hey, hey! This one next!
Be careful.
If they find us here, we won't be allowed at the villa anymo—
Oh no!
The owner of this villa is one of the world's best wine-tasters.
No matter how good a job we do cleaning it up,
he's going to know exactly which bottle we broke.
Issei... I'm so sorry.
But it smells so wonderful...
Sweet and pure.
Of course.
Because this wine is...
My first love.
Both of you, show me the wines you've brought.
I will go first.
Julietta!
This wine... tastes of the tears of the first woman I ever loved.
Your turn, Shizuku.
A purity that exists only in memories...
This wine is a serenade, played for me by my first love.
Indeed.
There are few better ways to describe this wine.
However...
Château Lafleur!
They both...
No, they're different vintages.
The '94 that Issei chose is the superior of the two.
But the opinions of other critics are irrelevant in this battle!
Very true.
What matters is what Yutaka wrote about the Fourth Apostle.
If you read that carefully, the victor is clear.
Tomine Issei, you, who brought us the '94 Lafleur,
are the winner of the battle for the Fourth Apostle.
Issei!
Now it's two to two!
We're closed right now, you know that?
There were no apples in the world of first love I visited.
Everyone has their own first love.
Isn't it possible that your interpretation and your father's differed?
I was actually wondering if the "first love" in my father's writing
was his real first love.
Every kid wants his dad's first love to be their mother, right?
What was your mom like, Shizuku-san?
She was... devoted and pure.
And so kind.
My memories are all hazy now, but...
That sounds like the '92 Lafleur.
I get it! That's why you chose the '92 Lafleur!
You wanted your father's first love to be your mother!
Allow me to introduce tonight's special guest.
A friend of concertmaster Aki Sonata
and a contrabassist himself, Oki Shijima!
Please enjoy our final wine of the evening along with this song.
The '92 Lafleur...
Yeah.
To Sonata-san, the wine that represents her first love is this Lafleur.
I chased the shadow of my first love.
One's first love...
always reminds them of their mother or father, right?
Then this wine...
It reminds me of two people.
My first love, and...