At some point, Japanese people started drinking mineral water all the time. Especially in the summer, people want to drink something cold, so I always buy San Pellegrino. However, I don't like drinking water as is, so I mix concentrated coffee liquid with San Pellegrino and drink it.
When I was a child, no one drank mineral water. When it came to mineral water, the only thing I saw was bottled Fuji Mineral Water, and I wondered why they sold water. Eventually, every household started installing something called a water purifier. I remember there were two types: one that you attached to the faucet, and one that you put water through a device placed next to the sink and drink the water that came out of the device. This was probably because tap water no longer tasted good, and in apartments and other collective housing, water was supplied from a tank on the roof, so it became necessary to filter it because it was mixed with rust. Even so, tap water was still the basic method, and mineral water was not widespread. Public facilities such as stations and schools had machines that provided cold water, and it was also installed on the Shinkansen.
I think the reason I started to be conscious of drinking mineral water on a regular basis was because I went to Paris for research abroad. Although tap water in France is safe to drink, it is said to have a high lime content, so I opted to drink mineral water. However, casual bistros will serve you tap water in a bottle for free, called a "carafe de ro," and espresso at cafes comes with a water chaser. At high-end establishments, you will be asked "gazouz (carbonated) or non-gazouz (non-carbonated)," which of course costs extra.
Recently, it seems that the number of Japanese grand maisons that only serve mineral water is increasing. There was once a chef who was famous for his media appearances who charged for water, and he made an abusive rebuttal to a customer who criticized him, which led to his downfall. If his restaurant had been a grand maison that did not use powder, there would have been no problem.
What surprised me in Paris was that when I bought mineral water at the supermarket, the price was different between chilled and unchilled. I was drinking Volvic, a soft water that is rare in France, and as I recall, chilled was 5 francs (about 100 yen) and unchilled was 1 franc (about 20 yen).
At that time, I noticed that my teacher, the late Professor Cherrer, would always request San Pellegrino whenever we dined together. Perrier is famous for its carbonated drinks in France, but it does have a slightly dusty or unique flavor, and in comparison, San Pellegrino, although made in Italy, is really delicious. I also became a fan. I think that Badois was the standard carbonated drink for the French and was also cheap. Nowadays, when you ask a Japanese grand maison what gazoos they have, Badois may be one of the options, which surprises me. This is because, at least in Paris, Badois was the water of the common people and was not served at any grand maison.
Since then, I have come to prefer San Pellegrino even after returning to Japan. At first, I bought it in bottles, but it was bulky and expensive, so I switched to plastic bottles. However, the pressure in plastic bottles seems to be weak, perhaps because the carbonation escapes during transportation. The other day, a certain celebrity said something similar on TV, and I thought, ``I knew it.'' So now, I buy canned San Pellegrino, which is a little more expensive. This is sealed, so the refreshing carbonation when you open it is irresistible. It also has a hardness of over 700 , which is about twice as hard as Perrier. By the way, although it is non-carbonated, Vittel and Evian, which are representative of France, also have a hardness of around 300 , the same as Perrier. Contrex, which is famous as a water that helps you lose weight, has a hardness of over 1500 , and it certainly feels dull and heavy when you drink it. The refreshing taste of carbonated mineral water is not only due to the feeling of the carbonation popping, but also the metallic taste of the minerals.
By the way, the can of San Pellegrino is 330ml . The problem with cans is that you can't finish them all. So I buy a 330ml plastic bottle of Evian, drink it, and then put the rest of the San Pellegrino in the empty plastic bottle.
After that, I went to Seoul and Taipei several times, and in both places, drinking mineral water is recommended. Unlike in Paris, this is apparently a hygiene issue, but I found myself wondering whether to drink local mineral water at convenience stores or foreign brands like Evian. However, there didn't seem to be any carbonated water available, and even in airports and hotel lounges, even though the non-carbonated ones were local, the carbonated ones were almost always Perrier.
Nowadays, I think that even business class hotels in Japan have mineral water in the rooms. I remember that when I first went to Paris, the first thing I did after arriving at the hotel was to buy water. There were no supermarkets or convenience stores, so I was relieved to be able to buy water at a kiosk near the nearest metro station. I often saw kiosks in Seoul as well. Of course, mineral water is always available in hotel rooms in Seoul and Taipei, so there is no need to worry about looking for it. In fact, both cities have convenience stores scattered around more than in Japan, so there is no inconvenience. However, you will need to order mineral water at restaurants. Also, I think that common restaurants will give you cooled boiled water.
Looking back, I had started drinking mineral water at home without even realizing it. I always had a 2L plastic bottle in the fridge, and I used to go to the local supermarket with my mother to buy water. I don't really like soft mineral water in Japan. My parents passed away, I started living alone, and I no longer needed the 2L plastic bottle. Now, what should I do with non-carbonated mineral water, which I can only use for boiling and drinking with coffee? I tried tap water, but it was also not tasty. Japanese soft water seems tasteless. So I ended up with Panna. Panna is also Italian, and is from the same Tuscany region as San Pellegrino. Moreover, it is currently under the umbrella of San Pellegrino. It is soft to drink and has a good flavor. It is also delicious when poured into coffee. The hardness is just a little over 100. In Japan, water below 100 is called soft water, so I guess it's just the limit of hard water. This is just the right balance.
The wine is French, but the water is Italian. That's just how I like it.
This month's recommended wine: "Piedmont's dark horses: Barbera and Dolcetto"
"Barbera d'Alba Superiore 'Volupta' 2018 DOC Bosco Agostino" 5,100 yen (excluding tax)
I have already mentioned that the Italian wine equivalent to Burgundy is Piedmont wine. In my last post, I wrote that there are two types of Burgundy wine, especially the Cote d'Or, which produces excellent red wines: Nuits and Beaune. I would like you to know that there are two or three types of Piedmont wine.
The difference with Burgundy is that in Burgundy, only the Pinot Noir grape is used, whereas in Piedmont, excellent wines are produced not only from the Nebbiolo grape, which is used to produce wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco, but also from other grape varieties such as Barbera and Dolcetto.
Also, just as Burgundy has an excellent region called "Côte d'Or", Piedmont also has the "Alba" region, which produces "Barolo" and "Barbaresco". Therefore, you should look for wines called "Barbera d'Alba" and "Dolcetto d'Alba".
The difference between Barbera and Dolcetto is that Barbera is made to be aged for a long time, while Dolcetto is made to be drunk quickly. This is because most of the "Barbera d'Alba" is aged in small oak barrels, and Anderson comments in "Italian Wine" (Hayakawa Publishing) that "although it is still hidden in the shadow of Barolo and Barbaresco, it is no longer in the same league." On the other hand, Anderson says that "Dolcetto d'Alba is fruity and lively. The best of it has an unconquerable charm."
So, this time I would like to introduce "Barbera d'Alba". The winery is made by Bosco Agostino. The cantina is run by Agostino, the son of Pietro Bosco, who took over the small 4ha winery established by his father after his father's death. The wine is highly regarded for its high quality, made with careful grape cultivation using natural farming methods and thorough winemaking management. The wine, aged in barriques for 14 to 15 months, has a firm body and is said to be a truly appealing product with various flavors that emerge one after another over time. Take this opportunity to try it.
For inquiries about the wines introduced, please contact AVICO Co., Ltd.
Biography Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
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