I have gotten into the habit of writing manuscripts in the middle of the night. I usually finish work at around four or five o'clock every night, and I watch the sword fight scene of Yoshimune, played by Matsudaira Ken in his younger days, and the scene of "Punishment!" before getting ready for bed. For some reason, even though the series has been running for more than twenty years, it is only broadcast in a set season, and I have already seen the same episode several times. I know the plot and the ending, but I somehow find myself watching it. I also think that the episode where philosopher Wittgenstein always watched a western movie while eating snacks at the movie theater after his intense lectures makes sense. I'm sorry to Professor Wittgenstein. Even so, every time, the corrupt magistrates, senior vassals, and big merchants involved in vested interests are all "punished," which makes me feel good, but in the real world, evil is rampant and it's hard to live.

That's why every weekday night, I fall asleep listening to the ending theme of Kitajima Saburo-sensei, "Happily ever after," but there is one day that is an exception. It is late on Friday night, which is actually Saturday morning, and at the same time, the long-running program "Watanabe Atsushi's Building Exploration" is being broadcast. It has been on for over 30 years, since 1989. The program is hosted by Watanabe Atsushi, an actor with a deep knowledge of architecture, who visits and introduces "houses that can be evaluated as architectural works." Watanabe once appeared as the head of the fire brigade "Megumi" in "Abarenbou Shogun," and when that season is being broadcast, it feels strange to see the young Watanabe, who is showing off his light-hearted yet warm-hearted acting as an actor, and the good-natured Watanabe, who praises architecture with his unique way of saying "It's wonderful," appearing in the same week.

But what's really puzzling is none other than the "houses" that are introduced in each episode. Well, it's always the case that the exteriors are round or pentagonal and unusual, so it doesn't really bother me. The problem is what's inside the house. I can't help but wonder how much the chairs and furniture by famous architects and designers like Aalto and Mies van der Rohe must have cost, but I'll let that slide. What bothers me is that there's no sense of life at all. The houses make me want to ask, "Are they really living in them?"

It would make sense if a celebrity on a variety show visited a mansion. It wasn't originally a "residential" building. A "home" is a family's ordinary everyday living space. In most cases, children appear, and especially in houses with small children, it is common for them to scribble on the walls and floors or scratch them. In old Japanese houses, it was normal for the shoji screens to be torn. It was interesting to scratch the pillars by comparing their heights. Also, houses with pets are often introduced, such as people living with several cats or keeping dogs indoors (come to think of it, I have never seen a doghouse in the garden. Is it because you need to have a doghouse designed?). No matter how well trained they are, pets still damage the house. In the past, for some reason, the author kept a Shiba Inu in the house, and the dog slept on the sofa in the living room and ate the same food as humans, living a life just like a member of the family. It lived for nearly 20 years and was well trained, but it still damaged the legs of wooden chairs. However, the house shown on the program has no such scratches or stains.

Among these, the most symbolic is the "kitchen." Ironically, Watanabe always carefully introduces the kitchen. He must be a very good cook. All of the kitchens are impressive. Easy to use, no waste, great storage, etc. But there is almost no sign of them being used. In the middle of the night, if you change the channel to another station, you will see a mail-order ad for a detergent to remove dirt from kitchen exhaust fans, or a bleach to remove tea stains from dishes. In this ad, an extremely dirty home is shown, and the products are used extensively in the kitchen and bathroom. The stark contrast is astonishing. There is no way to say anything other than that both are probably lies of some kind.

Moreover, meal scenes almost always appear in "Building Exploration." They are likely filmed on another day. Watanabe is not there, and there are scenes of a family lunch, a lunchtime dinner with an architect, and for some reason no dinner. If it is such a magnificent kitchen, wouldn't it be better to cook and dine with Watanabe when he visits, as a form of hospitality? A spotless, tidy, and quiet kitchen with no cooking scenes may be appropriate as "architecture," but is it appropriate as a "home"?

However, it is certain that "residential architecture" is the first step to success for an architect. The flow is residential architecture → commercial architecture → large-scale public architecture. For example, Tadao Ando became an architect by self-study, and did not get a job at a major general contractor, but he became famous for his residential architecture called "Sumiyoshi's Tenement House". Although it was a carefully constructed windowless building made of exposed concrete, the house was built on a narrow, deep, eel-like plot of land, and had a central open courtyard-like space. On rainy days, you had to use an umbrella to go from the entrance to the back space, which was a novel idea for architecture at the time. The contrast between the airtightness of the exposed concrete interior and the openness of the courtyard. In any case, if it is called a "tenement house", it is meaningless if there is no sense of life there.

After "Building Exploration" until the end of March 2022, "Okazu no Cooking" by Yoshiharu Doi was aired. For me, when I think of chef Doi on TV, I think of Doi Masaru, who looks like the owner of a traditional Osaka restaurant, wearing a white lab coat. The show was originally started by Masaru and continued by his son, Yoshiharu. Yoshiharu's gentle and light-hearted way of speaking seems casual, but you can really feel his delicate spirit that does not allow for compromise on the key points, and it was the very image of home cooking that can be reproduced in an ordinary household with a sense of everyday life.

The home cooking by Professor Doi seemed to be a relief to the disappointment of seeing the excellent architecture of "Building Exploration" but not a home for people to live in. When I think about it, I feel sad that the opportunities to watch "Building Exploration" have decreased dramatically this year, probably because "Cooking for Side Dish" has ended. It is no exaggeration to say that the origin of all "gourmet food" begins with eating at the dinner table at home.

This month's recommended wine: "Burgundy's finest, the Cote de Nuits"

"Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Terrasses des Vallots 2017 AC Nuits-Saint-Georges Domaine Bertrand et Axel Marchand de Gramont" 8,700 yen (excluding tax)

Now we are starting our journey to red Grand Vin. First, we start with Burgundy wine, known as the "king of wines." Burgundy is actually a wide region from north to south, and includes the area from the Yonne department, an exclave that produces Chablis, near the Côte des Bar at the southern end of the Champagne region, to Lyon, the northernmost part of the Rhône region, where the Saône River joins the Rhône River. However, it is narrow from east to west, and is mostly located in a limited area along the Saône River.

As you may already know, red wine in Burgundy is made from the single variety Pinot Noir, but Beaujolais, made from Gamay, is also an appellation located at the southernmost tip of Burgundy. The natural wine that has become popular in recent years is said to have been founded by Beaujolais winemaker Jules Chauvet, and there are many winemakers who follow in his footsteps, making it very popular.

It is said that the best Pinot Noir wines are produced in the "Côte d'Or", which means "golden hill". Among them, the northern half of the region, the "Côte de Nuits", which includes the village of "Vosne-Romanée", which produces the world's best wine "Romanée-Conti", is almost exclusively focused on red wines and provides the best Burgundy red wines.

There are no classifications for vineyards in Burgundy, and there are three levels: first growth (Premier Cru) and grand cru (Grand Cru). In the "Côte de Nuits", the villages with Grand Cru are "Gevrey-Chambertin", "Morey-Saint-Denis", "Chambolle-Musigny", "Vougeot", "Flagey-Echézeaux", and "Vosne-Romanée" from the north. "Nuits-Saint-Georges", located at the southernmost tip of Nuits, does not want to see disparities between domaines, so it refuses to have Grand Cru, and has only two levels: none and Premier Cru. In addition, there are two appellations further north of Gevrey-Chambertin: "Marsannay" and "Fissan".

This time, we will introduce a village wine from Nuits-Saint-Georges, and in particular a wine from the specific vineyard, "Les Terrasses des Vallots". The maker is Domaine Bertrand et Axel Marchand de Gramont, a long-standing maker based in Nuits-Saint-Georges, and I apologize for the long name. Originally, Chantal Lescure had more than 30 hectares of vineyards in the Cote d'Or, and this is one of the three domaines that were divided through inheritance. Founded by Mr. Bertrand in 1986, this 6-hectare domaine was inherited by his daughter Axel in 2004. It practices organic farming. Please try this elegant wine that makes the most of the "delicate and long-lasting" fruitiness produced by the delicate brewing method that only a woman can do.

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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