I seem to recall it was a daughter in the comics. There was more wine tasting trying to figure out the wines and less love story in the comics.
It’s a son as the main character (the rival Issei is also technically a son having been adopted shortly before the death of the father). There’s a constant thread of a will they/won’t they love story between the main character and his partner, a sommelier in training who brings the book knowledge to Shizuku’s (main character’s name) exceptional natural tasting skills. It’s quite light though.
There’s also Issei’s hot model sister Sara who may have a thing for Shizuku.
I’ve read a few of the volumes now. They’re more enjoyable than I thought at first, but when I try to tell my fiancee what is happening in them, vocalizing the story makes me realize how really absurd it is. For example, there’s a homeless wine expert who keeps high priced bottles buried around his encampment and is close friends with some rich woman who is I think an executive at the beer company where Shizuku works in the wine division.
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Hi, I’m wondering something. They make a big deal in episode 3 about Lignage being a grape that can give both white and red wine. This might be a newbie question, but is that really a rare quality? Unless you’re dealing with a tinta, most red grapes have white flesh and color comes from the skins. I’ve mostly seen blanc des noirs in sparkling but I have seen one or two white wines made up of pinot noir over the years, so I’m a little confused as to why this was pointed out (aside from the celery root note). Any thoughts?
Other than that, I kind of like it, especially the training montage. It brought me back to getting my degree and the rows of glasses and my university’s Jean Lenoir wine aroma kit.
Also Issei’s mom is horrible and I’m saying this from the standpoint of someone very familiar with hard ass non-Western parents. I’m glad her husband left her.
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Have thoroughly enjoyed the first three episodes.
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For example, there’s a homeless wine expert who keeps high priced bottles buried around his encampment
Perhaps Peter Lorre?
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It’s been several years since I had read the comics. I read the first 17 and had forgotten some of the characters like the homeless sage who helped with finding rare bottles. In the tv show, I feel that character is being portrayed as the restaurant owner.
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That was a plot twist I was not expecting.
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Which part. That chateau Margaux becoming a fake domaine 
Kidding aside I believe the actual twist is true to the comic material?
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The twist was predictable about 15 minutes into the episode. But the relationships between the two Tomines are more interesting than the rest at this point.
One thing I don’t understand. If the Tomine diamond empire is on the mother’s side, did the man take her name? And the son? Seems unusual.
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Done with the first 5 Episodes and I can’t wait until Friday. I find there’s a good balance between generalizing too much / making it for amateurs and being to geeky.
Looking forward to the rest
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I’m loving it so far.
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Two episodes in and really digging it so far.
Enjoying it a ton too! The whole Vega Sicilia vs cheval blanc really bothered me, but I’m past it now. The storytelling is great (predictable at times, but still very enjoyable) and the acting is outstanding.
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Very different from the books, but my wife and I are enjoying it (and we don’t have a lot of shows we enjoy together)… I think if it were true to the books, she wouldn’t like it as much.
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On the second episode already and hooked!
Hey, I can answer this a bit.
So Japan has this weird family registry system - like the way they keep track of citizenry is through family documents. And this document 1. allows for two current gens at the current time 2. requires husband and wife HAVE to have the same last name
Women usually do not inherit - first born sons do. It seems the only child grampa Tomine had was Honoka. In a traditional Japanese scenario, when she marries, she leaves her family documents and joins her husbands. She essentially cannot pass on her family records. But! There’s a way around this - if the family adopts the prospective husband.
So her husband is a mukoyoshi, a young man adopted as a heir into the family who marries the only female child of someone with a business. That way there’s still a way to pass on the family name and records in the next generation, which they planned with Issei as the male heir. The Japanese koseki system is very complex and I’m not sure I did my best with it, but honestly, it gets really convoluted the more you dig down and then realize why certain things in Japan are the way they are.
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Sandlands Mataro, 2015 San Benito County!!!
Go Tegan!
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Gotta pair it with some lobster now.
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Really loving this … what a treat!
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Loved it! Totally was not expecting that.
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