What is all this?
Soil.
Soil?
Not just any soil.
Soil from Burgundy vineyards.
What are you doing?!
Griotte-Chambertin. Slightly to the north.
Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru Domaine Ponsot, Northern Section
That's correct!
Vosne-Romanée. Romanée-Conti.
No, this is La Romanée next to it.
It's a great grand cru vineyard,
but there's a hint of the pesticides and harsh growing methods
used in the past before the current owner.
Don't tell me... You're trying to identify the fields by eating the soil?
Vosne-Romanée Grand Cru La Romanée Owned by Domaine du Vicomte Liger-Belair
Correct.
A field's quality and unique traits appear in the wine as its terroir.
I'm doing a tasting so I can learn to recognize what makes each one unique.
You don't have to go that far...
My opponent was able to smell a Montrachet
four thousand meters above sea level in the middle of a blizzard.
That's who I'm up against.
Next, we'll move on to Bordeaux.
Ma'am, your wine.
Merci.
Oh, this one's a bit bouchonné.
I hate to ask, but could you bring me a new one?
Oh, of course.
What's wrong?
That Asian woman says this wine is bouchonné.
Oh, was there something wrong with the cork?
Well, sometimes you get picky customers like that.
It's just fine.
Right?
Let's just bring her the same thing in a new glass.
Yeah.
Here you are.
Forget the wine.
Take it away.
And would you call the cabin manager?
I'm so sorry.
I really am.
What?
What's going on?
She told you the wine was bouchonné, and you brought it to her twice?!
Oh, no...
Was it really spoiled?
Of course it was!
She's one of the top wine tasters in France!
We're so sorry!
As long as you understand.
Would you bring me a different wine, then?
O-Of course!
My son chose these wines, after all.
I don't want to go back to Japan without trying them.
Excuse me.
Tomine-sensei, Sarah-san is here for you.
Sarah is?
Yes, and there's someone with her...
Issei!
I haven't seen you in ages.
I'm at work.
Oh, how cold.
It's been three years.
Hello. I am Issei's mother, Tomine Honoka.
I'm sorry, but could the three of you leave us?
Of course.
Sarah, why did you bring her here?
And without telling me first?
Sorry, brother.
But if I had, you would've said no.
Of course.
This is my workplace!
See?
If you knew, then...
I asked her.
I can't have you here.
But it's the only way for me to see you, even though we're mother and son.
Hey, you haven't eaten yet, right?
Let's go somewhere with good wine.
All right.
I'll arrange a car.
Hooray!
Sensei.
This just arrived!
Oh? What could that be?
An invitation to the next apostle hunt!
An apostle?
Kanzaki Yutaka...
How much did you tell her?
Everything.
Will you fill me in on what I should know?
Yes.
So everyone's here, I see.
I'll begin, then.
The Sixth Apostle...
I have never known true loneliness from the moment of my birth.
There was always warmth.
I've lived alongside a warmth that gave me succor when I was in pain.
I thought that was natural, but...
Now I walk in darkness.
And my first taste of loneliness makes me afraid.
I see a silent domain that stretches out as far as I can see. Nothing moves.
No spring to slate my thirst.
No breeze to calm my racing heart.
And beyond the darkness, I see something shining like a crescent moon.
It is a person but also the universe itself.
Its gaze is turned downward, but it sees all.
Its fingertips tell me a story of endless thought.
It accepts me for who I am
and holds me close.
I ask a question.
"What should I do?"
"What is the meaning of living through the years to come?"
The Miroku Bosatsu Hanka Shiizo...
This wine gives a silent answer to those in need.
Where are you going now?
Don't worry.
I won't cause any trouble for you.
I asked where you're going.
To Kyoto, of course.
I'm going to see the Miroku Bosatsu statue at Koryu-ji Temple.
Now, it's time for my train.
Kobayashi-kun, I'll send you detailed instructions via email.
O-Oh, right.
The Sixth Apostle begins with loneliness.
I must fight this battle alone.
The Sixth Apostle is way beyond me...
Don't say that. Just go to Kyoto and see the statue.
I'm not doing that.
But you went to the Matterhorn for the Fifth Apostle.
The Sixth Apostle's text didn't feel like he was walking around to find something.
Going to see the Miroku Bosatsu without understanding it might
seem like the right answer, but I don't think it is.
But if you don't go looking, you'll never find it.
Yeah, you're right...
What's Tomine-san doing?
Going to Kyoto, I bet.
He's had so many different wines over the years
that he may have tasted the Sixth Apostle before.
He's going to see the statue in the description so he can see
if this apostle is what he thinks it is.
I see...
Hey, Kanzaki!
This is the Sixth Apostle!
I heard how it went and had an idea!
What an incredible aroma!
It's like an olfactory Big Bang!
Right?
Now give it a try.
This is...
In the distant past, a night festival in worship of the gods and fire
that shakes your very soul...
Well? It's galactic in scale, no?
Yeah, I do get a sense of the universe in this wine.
It's really something!
When I heard it involved space, I figured this Italian wine was just the thing!
A '90 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino.
A sense of scale, as one sits unmoving and observes the universe!
Buddha
A wine like the Buddha himself!
The Sixth Apostle is Miroku Bosatsu, specifically.
Well, they're basically the same thing, signorina!
Still, I do feel like this wine has a taste of religion and the universe in it.
That's not totally off.
R-Right?
This Barolo is famous, right?
What variety of grape does it use?
You don't even know that?
Nebbiolo, a type of black grape from Piedmont!
Hey, could we narrow it down to Italian wines made from Nebbiolo grapes?
I see. Yeah, we could.
Then it's settled!
We'll start with Barolo and Barbaresco!
Y-Yeah, good idea.
But...
After drinking this wine, there's somewhere I want to go.
Where?
Asuka.
Well, we're here, but...
Is there someplace specific you wanted to visit?
No, I figured I'd go off the image I have in my head
and see if it leads me to what I want to see.
What is it you want to see?
Something that gives me the feeling of space, maybe?
Shizuku-san, look!
"Spazio"?
It's Italian.
What does it mean?
Is it a bar and restaurant for Italian wine, maybe?
Well, wandering around aimlessly won't get us anywhere.
True enough.
Welcome.
Table for two?
Y-Yes, we'd like to try some wine.
Great.
We've got lots. I'm proud of my wine list, so take a look.
We only carry Piedmont wines, however.
Why only Piedmont?
That's where I'm from.
And it's the perfect wine for Asuka.
Um, what does "Spazio" mean?
Space.
If you're from Piedmont, you must be Italian, right?
That's right. My name's Leonardo Romano.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Kanzaki Shizuku.
Shinohara Miyabi.
What brings you to the Nara countryside?
Actually...
I see.
A wine that reminds one of the Miroku Bosatsu Hanka Shiizo?
I can't even imagine what that could be.
Neither can I.
But when I was drinking a Giacomo Conterno Barolo with a co-worker,
a certain image came to me, with a poem.
A poem?
"Hingashi no no ni kagirohi no tatsu miete,
kaherimisureba tsuki katabukinu."
It was a poem in the Manyoshu by a famous poet named Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
I don't know what it means, but I think my dad read it to me when I was little.
Here's what it means.
"I saw a heat haze during the day and turned to go home,
and saw the crescent moon in the sky."
So it's about a twilight scene.
I can't read much Japanese, so I had a Japanese person I know tell me.
How do you know that poem?
I came here to Asuka, Japan, in search of that poem.
Seeking a wine like the poem!
Wow!
A 2001 Pio Cesar Barbaresco!
That's a great vintage!
This wine is one my girlfriend left in our wine cellar.
I drink this wine every night and watch the moon
beyond the heat haze on the hills of Akino.
But I can't tell what that poem she left me before she went away
or the wine she left me
are supposed to mean.
Tomine-sensei, we're going to have to close for tonight.
I'm sorry.
I'll be back early tomorrow.
I apologize for the trouble.
Good night.
They let you spend a long time gazing upon a famous national treasure.
Which connection did you use?
It has nothing to do with you.
My, that's a rude thing to say to your mother.
Miroku-sama won't grant you your answer if you're going to be so sinful.
I didn't come to ask for an answer.
That's right.
Miroku Bosatsu and the wine you're looking for
won't answer the questions of the troubled.
They merely watch silently.
You heard the description of the Sixth Apostle?
From who?!
I haven't heard it.
I've just had the wine before.
With him.
You want to know what it is?
Please don't tell me, no matter what!
If you do, I'll be disqualified!
I was only joking.
But you won't be able to find it just by coming here and staring at a statue.
Do you really think, at your age, you know everything there is to know about wine?
The goddess of wine won't smile on people like that.
Are you calling me arrogant?
Arrogance and a sense of inferiority...
You hold an ambivalent mix of the two.
I could sense your mental state from the wines you picked for first class.
I really didn't want to see you.
Not now, of all times.
Then just know this...
If you can't identify the Sixth Apostle,
you've failed to reach my level,
let alone Kanzaki Yutaka's.
Well? See anything?
This Barbaresco has a "ripple" in it that makes you want
to watch the heat haze just before sunset forever.
It does.
It reminds you of twilight at the end of summer.
That's right!
I always drink this Barbaresco watching the moon rise above the Akino twilight!
Though the image I see when I drink this wine has a setting sun...
And no moon.
Yeah. No moon.
The moon, or rather space...
This Barbaresco doesn't give me that feeling.
But that Barolo did.
The poem she left me spoke of both the twilight heat haze and the moon in space.
The Barolo has the moon and space,
but no setting sun or heat haze.
And the Barbaresco has the setting sun and heat haze,
but no space.
What was she like?
A troubadour.
She worked part-time at a Kyoto Italian restaurant while reading Japanese poetry.
An aspiring poet, I guess.
I met her when I started working as a chef there.
What are you doing, Natsuki-san?
Writing a waka.
A waka?
It's a traditional Japanese poem.
About what?
That.
La luna!
Fantastico!
I'll help you!
Drink this wine, and it'll bring something to mind!
Don't mind if I do!
She and I became lovers after that.
When I went back to Italy, she came with me.
We lived together for three years.
You broke up with her?
She just vanished out of the blue.
Why?
It was my fault.
I'm pregnant.
What? Really?
But this had to happen now?
It's bad timing with the restaurant and all.
I was busy with my new restaurant that I'd just opened in Piedmont.
I was just so tired that I blurted those words out.
And then one day...
I'm back.
Natsuki?
Natsuki!
She only took her clothes and some personal belongings.
She was going to work as a sommelier at my restaurant,
so there were several wines she'd bought in our wine cellar.
She was studying wine by drinking it and putting what she felt into poems.
And the message she left in the cellar...
was that waka poem by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
I thought that if I came to where the poem was born, I could find her.
I see.
Leonardo-san, what other wines were in your cellar?
There were lots.
All of them Italian, but...
Any Barolo?
Of course.
A Pio Cesar Barolo, just like this Barbaresco.
Why don't we try drinking it now?
Now?!
But it's so late.
If we want to drink it, we should do it at twilight, like in the poem.
No.
It's not the wine we're wrong about, but the poem, I think.
What?
Let's just get ready.
If we leave now, we can get there by dawn, even on foot.
Well, maybe, but...
Let's go!
To the hills of Akino!