I went to Mr. Tasaki's Party, celebrating his championship of winning at the World Sommelier 20 years ago. It was one of those super hot summer days at the end of July,
一人で甚だ不安ながら。おまけにスクールのまとめ試験結果もあまり芳しくなく、行っている場合なのか?でも取り敢えず行って来ました。
I felt a bit nervous and lonely, and held a bit of guiltiness for going to a party, any party, but especially this one when my score on the final wine school test wasn't something I could be proud of.
用意していたドレスはこのところのストレスによる暴飲暴食で着れなくなり…。おフランス製の可愛いピンクワンピ (T . T)
And another downer was that because I gained a bit of weight these days (using my brain makes me hungry!), my body didn't fit in to the fancy French dress I was planning to wear.
ドレスコードも平服でしたので、あるもので出席しました。
Since the dress code was casual, I wore something decent.
早目に会場につくと…。あ!スクールの先生!その隣になんと田崎さん!
これはチャンスだ、二度と来ないかもしれん。一緒に写真を撮るミッション課せられたし…ということで図々しく、声をかけてしまいました。パシャリ。
I arrived to the party early and saw my wine school teacher talking to someone. Wow! Isn't that Mr.Tasaki!
I was sure this would be my only chance to ever get a picture with him. Gathering all the courage I had, I went to talk with them and I got a picture of the two of us. Can you guess who took the picture?
よか人でした。慌てて、何故場違いな私がここに居るのかを説明するのをニコニコと暖かく受け止め、一緒に写真を撮ってくださいました。
Mr.Tasaki was such a nice person. He kept smiling while I hurriedly introducing myself, trying to explain what a student of his school was doing at his twenty year celebration.
あとでパーティー始まるとむずかしいですからねって。
When I finished explaining, he said yes it's better to take a picture now because there won't be any time to do it once the party starts.
The banquet hall was at the Hotel New Otani. My grampa was the first grand chef at this hotel over 50 years ago,so I felt like he was watching over me, that he helped me to get that picture taken with Mr. Tasaki. In my life, that sort of thing counts as a miracle.
写真をとるミッションを達成したこともあり、相当気分は高揚しておりました。開場前にフランスの香り高い生ビールKronenbourg Blancが入り口でサーブされておりましたので頂きました。日本のビールにはない華やかなアロマが新鮮!なのにスッキリとした喉越し。クセになりそうな味。
Now that I'd completed my mission of getting a picture with Mr.Tasaki, I needed something to toast with! And what did I find, a French draft beer counter in the corner. Kronenbourg Blanc is an aromatic beer, floral but smooth on the throat. Perfect!
開場すると入り口でフルートグラスに入ったJosephe Perrier Cuvée Royal Brutが配られました。会場の壁際にお料理、中央にロの字型にテーブルがセットされ、錚々たるワインが並んでおります。
それらのワインをサーブするのは、これまたテレビや雑誌でよく見かけるセレブソムリエさんたち。そのオーラで会場はいっそ華やかに輝いてみえます。
When the hall doors opened, Josephe Perrier Cuvée Royal Champagne was served to everyone present. From the sides of the room I began to smell the yummy looking foods that had been set out on long tables near the walls. At the center, tables were set up in a square shape and OMG! The tables were full of wines, all neatly lined up.
The black suited sommeliers standing in front of those wines were all celebrity sommeliers that you see on television or in magazines. They lined up straight in their sommelier uniforms and their aura together with all those wines took the ambience of the room to a completely different level, as if the center tables had the spot light and they were the real stars of the night's show. The presentation made the room look glamorous and sparkly.
セレブも沢山おりました。何人いたのかわかりませんが、なお美さんやら、純一さんやら、ニュースキャスターの宮川さんやら、替歌の嘉門さんやら…。でも参加されている方々の視線は会場の真ん中に並ぶワイン達に釘付け。こうしてみますと、日本人もなかなかのワインラバーなんだなぁと感じました。日本にもワインの文化が浸透してきているってことですよね。いいことです。
Of course, there were a number of celebrities in attendance to celebrate the event. Most participants at the party seemed more intrigued with the wines than trying to get their pictures taken with the super famous people. I don't want to name drop, but there were some pretty fancy people there. It made me realize how much we love wine in Japan and how many people really enjoy and respect wine and the growing tradition of wine and viticulture in our country today.
頂いたワインリストを確認するとシャンパーニュだけで19種類、スパークリングは2種類。白ワインは13、赤ワインは18、ロゼ1、甘口2種類! 会場中の皆様、真剣にリストを睨めっこしておりました。
As each of us had entered the banquet hall a little earlier that evening, we had each been given the list of the wine that would be presented for the event. Now we all began to focus on these lists, and each one of us began weighing in on our own alcohol limits, with respect to how we might get the best and most out of the list. There were 19 champagnes, 2 sparking wines, 13 whites, 18 reds, 1 rose and 2 sweet wines. Hummmmmm....
いただいたワインリストの何がよろしいのかも正直わかりません。でもどれをいただいても素晴らしいにちがいないので、とりあえず、白をもう一杯、Bouzeron Domanie Gageyを頂きました。
To be honest, I couldn't make out which was better from the lists. I noticed a few famous brands and chateaus but my knowledge is still very limited. Since I was sure that they must be all great or they wouldn't even be in the room, I decided to get a white wine, the Bouzeron Domanie Gagey.
本当なら、ノートでも取りながらお勉強する絶好の機会なのでしょうが。パーティー会場でそんな事も出来ず、オマケに緊張と空腹で既に酔いが回って居ります。えーい!今日はこの空間を楽しみます!
At this point I'm thinking that maybe I should have brought a notepad or something to write with and take this perfect opportunity as a day to study wine, but that would have made me look like a dork. And I was already tipsy from a glass of beer, a glass of champagne plus being nervous and hungry. Well I guess that left me no choice but to enjoy the moment!
Once everyone was filled with food and excellent wine, we were shown a video of the world sommelier contest from 20 years ago. Wow yes I was there!
サービスで客役のフランス女性がいろいろ難問を押し付けてましたっけ。途中で気が変わってみたり、リストにないものがいいと言ってみたり。フランス語のやり取りでしたので、当時はよく分かりませんでした。あー、日本人のソムリエさん、困ってるなあって。今回ビデオに字幕がついていて漸く理解しました。凄い難関をクリアされたんですね。
The video clip began at the stage in the competition where the top sommeliers were taking their final test of servicing wine. In the scene, Mr.Tasaki was being challenged by a female examination committee member who role-played a very snobbish and mean guest. His mission was to satisfy this guest. Twenty years ago, when I was looking at this scene from down stage, I didn't understand much of the conversation in French, so I had just guessed that the lady was a very angry guest and she was giving our Japanese sommelier a very hard time. Today the video had Japanese subtitles and I was finally able to understand what was going on.
田崎さんの以降、日本人でソムリエ世界一になった日本人はまだいないそうです。改めてて本当に凄い人なんだと再認識しました。
When the video was over, the announcer told us that although the Japan Sommelier Association sends their best Sommelier of the Year to the annual World Sommelier Contest, no other Japanese person has taken the title of World Sommelier since Mr.Tasak did in 1995. I couldn't help thinking how lucky I am to be in his school and to be a witness to all of this both then and now.
そしてロの字の中央にあるプロレスリングのようなステージに先程サーブしていたセレブソムリエ達があがりました。
これが日本を代表するソムリエ面々。
The top sommeliers in Japan were then invited onto a stage that had been set up in the center of the room and surrounded by wine serving tables. These are the rock stars of the sommelier world in Japan.
Usually, I make sure to eat everything at a buffet, but today I wanted to taste as much wine as possible. I ended up enjoying 9 glasses of wine and was definitely...pretty much drunk.
同じテーブルにいた方々とも打ち解けて、話してみると、呼称資格認定試験を去年受けた人、今年私と受ける人がいて、盛り上がりました。よかった、私だけでなくて。
Near that back of the stage was a corner table that I began hovering around and pretty soon I was comfortably chatting with the people around me. Most of them were also going to the Tasaki wine school, some had passed the exam a few years ago and two of them would be taking the same exam with me. I felt relieved knowing that I was not the only one at the party who had ditched their studies to enjoy the celebration and have a good time chatting.
Our conversation got pretty heated and I almost missed Mr.Tasaki's performance of the opening of a 12L Jacquart Brut Mosaïque on the stage. Whew!
後半は私達のスクールの先生がテーブルに寄ってくださり(と言うか呼びつけた感が強い)、ここでも前向きに励まして頂きました。好きだなぁこのボジティブさ。いい先生です。本当に頑張って試験パスしないとですね!
Our wine school teacher later joined our table. He was really nice and kept cheering the three of us on who will be taking the exam next month. His was being so positive, really encouraging and comforting. I'm so glad I can share this with all of you.