Drops of God

*Spoiler alert.

If you haven’t watched Drops of God, but plan to, stop reading this.

I love/hate this show.
I can hear my mother saying that hate is a strong word, so let me correct myself: I love/dislike this show.

I LOVE that Drops of God is a show all about wine.
I LOVE that the show incorporates three languages: French, Japanese, and English.
I LOVE that the main character is a woman with insane wine instincts.
I LOVE that she wins.
I LOVE that there is a strong message near the end about wine bringing family and friends together joyously around a table.

I DISLIKE that the snobbery of wine is front and center in this show…that your place in the wine world is determined by how many expensive, fancy bottles you have.
I DISLIKE that they let viewers think a sommelier can identify a wine- down to the vintage- in one sniff. I’ve never seen anyone do that.
I DISLIKE how bad some of the acting is.
I DISLIKE that when Camille says she smelled truffle in a wine, her wine friends determine it must be a Cabernet Sauvignon, it is likely one of two wines, and one of them is Cheval Blanc. Didn’t we already learn from Sideways that Cheval Blanc is predominantly Merlot and Cabernet Franc?!

I LOVE that in the closing scene, when a truck full of wines pulls up to Issei’s door, Château Gloria is on full display. Gloria is a FANTASTIC red wine from Saint Julien in Bordeaux. I tasted the 2020 vintage this past January. Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s exceptionally elegant for the price ($49 a bottle on wine.com), and a great reminder that even the most expensive wine collection in the world should have some values.