Sommelière 3

Reserved for Trinity BAKumA. Do not use without my permission.

Page 1
le vin #3: The Second Bottle

Page 2
Nothing

Page 3
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*

Page 4
Woman: Director,
You have a phone call from your younger brother.
Director: ...
Director: ...Tell him to go to the restaurant in Omotesandou because I made a reservation there.
SFX: *Snap*
*Snap*
SFX: *Snap*
*Snap*
Woman: I will do that, sir.

Page 5
Woman: I'm sorry, but the director is currently...
SFX: *Rummage*
SFX: *Snap*
*Snap*

Page 6
Above building: -L'espoir-
Box: Assistant Manager, Noda Katsuya
SFX: *Close*
Noda: Who is it?
Noda: There shouldn't be anyone who comes to the restaurant earlier than me, the assistant manager...

Page 7
SFX: *Rattle, rattle*
Noda: !?
Noda: Who, who is it!?
Noda: If you're a burgler, there's nothing valuable here!
Kana: I'm sorry, I started working part-time here yesterday. My name is Itsuki Kana.

Page 8
Kana: The kanji for "Itsuki" is the same for "tree", and Kana is written in katakana.
Pleased to meet you.
Noda: ...
Noda: Yesterday?
Well I took a day off yesterday.
Noda: But besides that, what are you doing here?
Kana: I fell asleep right here in the store...
Kana: When I woke up, no one was here.
And since I was bored, I decided to do some cleaning.
Kana: I will be done very soon.
Noda: Leave the cleaning to those who get paid to do it.
Noda: You'll trouble everyone by just doing whatever you want.

Page 9
Kana: Trouble?
Noda: You'll make the rest of us look like we're slacking off.
Kana: ...

Page 10
Welcome to our...
Let me seat...

Page 11
Director: Dressed up like such a poor man,
Director: Are you trying to bring me shame?
Brother: You told me you wanted to talk to me, so I came all the way here to Tokyo.
Brother: I'm just wearing a hanten coat and worker's clothes. TN: Hanten is a traditional Japanese coat.
Brother: If you're just going to complain, I'm going back.
Director: Hmph...
Kana: ...Sir, would you like any wine?

Page 12
Director: What do you have from DRC*?
*DRC = Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. A top wine maker in Bourgogne.
Kana: If I remember correctly...we have the white wine Montrachet.
Director: How much?
Kana: It's a 1994 vintage,
So 250,000 yen... TN: Roughly more than $2500.
Brother(thought): 250,000...!

Page 13
Director: It's written right on your face.
You must be thinking: if you have that kind of money, why won't you help the bankrupt Yamazen?
Brother: I...I don't know anything about wine,
Brother: So I just thought it would be a waste to get such an expensive one.
Kana: ...
Director: Our dead old man chose you as the heir to Yamazen, and not me, the oldest son.
Director: But I'm a successful designer now.
Director: You are very skilled,
But you keep on making yuzen that don't bring in profit, so of course the store suffers. TN: Yuzen is Japanese dyeing technique, often on paper or silk.
Director: And you have to run around raising money.
Brother: ...
Director: How much do you charge for those hand-drawn yuzen patterns?
1 million yen? 2 million?
Director: And how much money do you have leftover?
The only one who can profit are the wholesalers and the kimono shops.

Page 14
Director: Bow your head.
If you put your head on the table and say "Please help me",
Director: Then I will lend money to Yamazen.
Brother: ...If,
Brother: If I have to do something like that,
Brother: I will close the store.
Brother: I'm not in the business for the money!
Brother: The yuzen I draw are not the same as the clothes you make, which are popular for a year and then thrown away.

Page 15
Director: Hahaha!
Director: Your yuzen is pretty similar to DRC wine!
Director: That's why I thought I should make you drink some.
One bottle is 250,000 yen you know.
Director: Why do you think it's so expensive?
Brother: Didn't I already tell you that I don't know anything about wine?
Director: Because the name is well-known throughout the world.
Director: If you change the contents with that of a 10,000 yen wine, how many people do you think will notice?
Director: Do you get it?
Director: In other words, people are just relying on reputation or the name brand to sell things!

Page 16
Director: How long are you going to keep at it?
Director: It's what they call working for fun.
Kana(thought): ---Working for fun.
Kana: Sir, you are mistaken.
Kana: It's true that DRC is one of the most well-known wine makers in the world.
But the wine is not something with just a name.
Kana: The makers work unbelievably hard in order to protect the name and traditions of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
Kana: For example...

Page 17
Box: It was at the end of July in 1983.
Box: In the village of Vosne-Romanee, much of the unharvested grapes were damaged by hail.
Box: If they don't do anything, the farm will be completely destroyed.
Box: But even if they were to remove the damaged grapes,
Simply touching them with human hands will cause the texture to deteriorate and the grapes to rot.
Kana: And do you know,
Kana: What DRC did in that situation?
Box: Everyone on staff went into the farm, and using small tweezers,
Box: Removed all the damaged grapes bunches from the branches.

Page 18
Box: For that reason, they could only make about half of the normal amount for the 1983 vintage.
Box: The flavor became something very magnificent.
Kana: People say that the characteristics of wine are affected by the land and the climate.
Kana: But that is not all.
Kana: In reality, wine are the result of the the history and traditions of the farm, and the hard work of people living there.
Director: ...Why are people putting so much passion into the grape farms?

Page 19
Kana: I think it's pride.
Kana: The pride that comes with continuing the traditions and history of the wine...
Noda: Hey, part-timer.
Why are you lecturing the customer like that?
Director: Pride you say?
Director: Only with wine can you rip off people like that.
Kana: Um...if it's alright, I have a wine to recommend to you.

Page 20
Kana: I want to serve this wine to that table...
Jo: Why? If they wanted Montrachet, then shouldn't you just open that for them?
Noda: Yeah! Geez, you keep on doing unnecessary things.
Kana: I don't want people to misunderstand about wine.
Kana: If I can move people's hearts
By just showing them one bottle of wine,
Kana: If the wine really has the power to do so,

Page 21
Kana: To the customers,
Kana: I would like to provide the best possible recommendation.
Kana: And Mr. Katase, if you are also a sommelier,
Wouldn't you think the same way?
Noda: Why...you!!
Noda: Don't be so impudent to the manager...

Page 22
JO: That's fine.
Kenichi, go get it.
Jo: Restaurant Rue One on the 6th Block should have it.
Kenichi: Yes, sir!
Noda: Huh? Huh?
Noda: Manager?
Noda: ...

Page 23
Kenichi: Even though she's just a part-timer, she sure knows how to handle wine.
Jo: ...
Kana: Here you are.
Kana: This is not Montrachet, but it's DRC's...
Kana: Second bottle of white wine.

Page 24
Director: Hahaha!
Director: Since you were giving me a sermon about DRC, I thought you knew a bit about wine...
Director: Hey you.
I don't know who pulled your leg, but people will laugh at you for saying that.
Director: I learned the wines DRC makes before.
Director: "Romanee-Conti", "La Tache", "Richebourg", "Romanee-St-Vivant", "Grands Echezeaux", "Echezeaux", the white "Montrachet", and the wine made at DRC's Grand Cru, "Vosne Romanee 1er Cru".
Director: They don't make any wines besides those eight. Even a customer at a wine bar knows that fact.
Kana: No...DRC does have a second bottle of white wine.
Director: Keep on insisting that and you will embarrass yourself.
Director: If there is such a thing, it would have to be a fake.

Page 25
Kana: I'm sorry sir.
Kana: I'm a very stubborn person.
Kana: Please try tasting it...
Director: There's no need to pretend to do something like that for a fake DRC!

Page 26
Director: !
Kana: Bourgogne Hautes-cotes de Nuits Caves Auge.
Kana: It's not shipped with DRC labels, so not many people know about it.
Director: Did they really have something like this...?

Page 27
Director: !
Director: It's different the profound flavor of Montrachet.
Fine and delicate.
Director: And I can feel the minerals within the fresh taste.
Kana: And this can be purchased for less than one-twentieth of the price for Montrachet.
Director: How is it, Seiji?
Seiji: I've only drank a handful of wine before...
Seiji: But this is no doubt very delicious.

Page 28
Kana: And this wine has a very special meaning as well.
Box: About 800 years ago, the Bourgogne grand duchess bestowed forest and farm to St Vivant monastery.
Box: And part of that farm became the present Romanee-Conti.
Box: However, the church that stood on the land of Romanee-Conti was deserted.
Recently, there is a movement that tries to restore that church.
Box: From 1998 and on, in order to collect funds for it, DRC started selling this special white wine and aiming for shops in Paris.

Page 29
Director: Do you understand, Seiji?
What this meddlesome, stubborn young lady is trying to tell me?
Director: My designs became popular because of the traditions from our family.
Because of that, I should help out the family that is in trouble.
Kana: No way,
That wasn't my intention...
Director: Nah.
Director: That's how I heard it, stubborn young lady.
Seiji: ...
Seiji: !
TN: It's a check for approx $100,000.

Page 30
Director: However.
Director: If you are to take that check, you must bow your head.
And request by saying "please lend me money".
Director: Not to me.
Director: To our traditions.
Director: To the traditions and pride maintained by thirteen generations of Yamazan workers.
Director: Even for someone like you, that shouldn't be hard to do.

Page 31
Director: Seiji.
Director: Remember, no matter how skilled you are, do not forget to be humble.
Director: ...Good luck to you.
Seiji: ...Brother!
Director: It's been about 15 years since we last drank together...

Page 32
Kenichi: Because of the wine that part-timer chose,
He decided to help out his brother huh. She did a good job.
Jo: Don't be stupid.
Jo: That customer was planning to give the check to his brother from the very beginning.
Kenichi: Huh?
Jo: That check issued by the bank could only have been made beforehand.
Kenichi: Then he should have been truthful and helped out from the beginning.
Jo: He needed a little excuse to hand over the check to his younger brother you see.

Panel 33
Kenichi: Excuse?
Jo: When people help others,
Jo: It's not only limited to love and affection.
Jo(thought): The world is not pure or simple like that.
Jo(thought): Just like that John Smith of yours...

Notes:
With a thin yellow color leaning toward green, it is slightly murky. Contains the aroma of of oak from new casks, and lemon flavor from matured Chardonnay wine. High in acidic content, very firm for a Hautes-cotes de Nuits.
It does not have the flavor that comes with malolactic fermentation*.
*A fermentation where malic acid, with the taste of green apples, present in grapes is converted to lactic acid, which is a softer tasting acid.

Page 34
Bourgogne Hautes-cotes de Nuits/DRC
A well-settled thin, yellow cue, with a visible shade of green. It has a moderate fruity aroma that is often thought as green apple. It may be mistaken for Chablis wine during blind tasting because of the fragrance of flint. One can also taste not fully ripened lemon.
Even though it is well-balanced and easy to drink, unfortunately, the amount sold in Japan is far less than the amount sold in the local area. It is a good idea to purchase a bottle for conversations.
In the 1998 vintage, the nuance of new casks was very strong, but it was made milder from 1999 and on.

(Made in 2002, 750mL. Sold for about 14,000 yen in Japan)