Nihonshu is made from rice.
Wine is made from grapes.

Try eating a single grain of rice at home.
And when you get the chance, buy some grapes at the supermarket and eat just one.

You’ve already done that?
Then this gets easier.

Which one is sweeter and more stimulating?
Most people would naturally say grapes.

No?

But for now, you have no choice—this piece has to be written from the perspective that it is grapes.

It was the evening of January 6, 2026.
I had originally planned to buy nihonshu—right up until I looked into the refrigerator at Sumiyoshi Liquor Shop inside Hakata Station.

Travel is most fun when you’re planning it,
and food is most exciting just before you eat.

The moment I saw how limited the selection was in that refrigerator,
the main character of my dinner changed.

That’s right.
I suddenly wanted wine.

I walked into a nearby wine shop and slowly scanned the Burgundy section.
The bottle I chose was Domaine Roux Père & Fils, Bourgogne Chardonnay.

I didn’t choose it because of deep wine knowledge.
The label looked good, and the price felt just right for a casual dinner—that was all.

The food to go with it was a homemade hamburger steak, made with confidence.
A mix of beef and pork mince from Lopia,
with cheese—also from Lopia—stuffed inside.

(For reference, Lopia is a large supermarket chain in Japan.)

The hamburger steak was done.
The table was set.

I pulled the cork and poured the wine into a glass.
A clear, golden white wine appeared.

What stayed with me most was the aroma.
Compared to the vanilla notes you find in a well-made sake with a low polishing ratio,
it felt perfectly natural—no sense of mismatch at all.

I found myself thinking,
I chose well this time.

As that thought settled in,
nihonshu slowly faded from my mind.

The meal deepened…
and so did my affection for the wine.