Maybe two weeks ago, a well-known member of a certain Korean wine café came to Japan to see the exhibition of original Mouton Rothschild label artwork, spotted news of a spring wine sale event in Ginza, and posted it on their blog. It’s a bit embarrassing to hear about Japan from someone living in Korea instead of being the one who posts it, but as a wine lover I couldn’t pass up a chance like this, so I went today.
This is a shop in Ginza called Vinalice.
It’s in Ginza 1-chome, behind the Hotel Seiyo Ginza. It’s small, so it’s easy to miss. The staff were very cooperative about photos. ^_^ There was a time sale, so I went early in the morning and stood in line for 40 minutes. I was first in line, so my heart was pounding the whole time I waited. Ah… I finally got to buy the wine I’d been wanting for so long.
The Bordeaux corner on the 2nd floor
It came out blurry. Unlike places like BiG GINZA, they had lots of good vintages. The prices are quite reasonable too. Plenty of wines were worth buying even without the sale.
Today’s haul
Two of these bottles belong to my friend. I feel pretty pleased that I picked up some good ones. They offered home delivery for up to 12 bottles for 800 yen. I don’t have much money, so I stuck to cheap ones with good value for the price. Sob… Today, once again, I clench both fists and vow to hurry up and make lots of money. For the record, the wine I’d been wanting to buy is the one on the far right.
Apparently this shop holds a sale like this twice a year. At this rate… I have a feeling I’ll be lining up from the morning for the next sale too.. ^_^ But even if you don’t go for the time sale, they had plenty of pretty good bottles, so it seems fine to take your time.
A rosé I bought at this shop as a souvenir
My companion bought it because the bottle was unusual, and it turned out to be pretty good. At 300 yen each it isn’t exactly cheap, but both the design and the taste beat my expectations.
As you can see, it’s VDQS grade.
Actually, this is the first VDQS wine I’ve ever seen -_- I’d only read about them in books. In front of the shop they were advertising it as a great wine to take along for cherry blossom viewing ^_^ This series also came in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Next time I go I want to pick up one of each.
After buying the wine, we went to Salon de Thé Angelina on the 2nd floor of Printemps Ginza department store. According to my companion, Wingbus says the Mont Blanc here is famous. Once again I learned something I didn’t know through people in Korea. Korea really is… a true internet powerhouse.
The Burberry and Céline handkerchiefs my companion insisted I photograph and show off.
They’re wrapped, so you can’t see the design, but they’re very stylish. (At the very least they don’t look like knockoffs.) And they cost a whopping 1,050 yen each! If you buy one, they wrap it up nicely like that. Apparently they’re perfect as gifts~ -_- I don’t really have anyone to buy gifts for these days, so I didn’t even know these existed, but seeing them in person, they did look nice. For anyone coming to Japan on holiday, take note.. Apparently other places besides Printemps sell them at this price too. (Maybe I should take this chance to become a tour guide.)
Sakura Mont Blanc, a March-only special
Oh… it’s delicious. The caramel on the outside is good, but the white cheese inside really melts your brain. It’s 473 yen and I highly recommend it. That said, I actually liked the regular Mont Blanc more than the March-only Sakura Mont Blanc. (It’s sweeter.)
Caffè Americano and Mont Blanc cake
The coffee is a bit pricey. About 800 yen? Just getting the Mont Blanc to take away seems like a good idea.
This is what the main entrance looks like.
There’s a takeout corner on the 1st floor and the café is on the 2nd. You can have a meal too, but again, the prices are a bit much.. Still, it seems like a nice place to take a short break from shopping.
This is Enoteca in Ginza.
From the outside it doesn’t look like a wine shop, so there’s a real risk of walking right past it. I went to compare prices with Vinalice, but… well… there was no comparison at all.. It was nice to get to see a DRC set, though..
A window display at Zadig & Voltaire, a clothing shop in a corner of Ginza.
Zadig is the title of a novel by Voltaire, whom I love. I haven’t yet found out whether the clothes are as intriguing as the book.. and I’m not sure I ever will.. since it’s womenswear..
Come to think of it, I went to the Mouton Rothschild original artwork exhibition too. If you like wine and art, it’s worth a visit. (I was a little surprised that so many of the originals looked like quick scribbles ^_^) But it isn’t very big, and they charge 1,000 yen, so I can’t really recommend it to the general public.
Finally, a building construction site in Osaki.
The colors and composition were unusual, so I took a shot. ^_^ Let’s call it a bonus for those who make the effort to visit my Empas blog..