Chapter 858: Wine Tasting
He hurried out the door. After a while, he walked back slowly, with gentle steps, grasping a basket of wine bottles with both hands, and then took out a dark wine bottle. The label on the bottle is downward, so that people can't see it.
Si Yingshi poured nearly a quarter of the goblet for Nagi Senzaemon, bowed slightly, and said respectfully, "Please taste it slowly." β
"Let me guess what kind of wine it is. β
Nagikiri Senzaemon slowly raised the glass to his nose, the tip of his nose reaching into the glass, moving across the surface of the wine, sniffing sensitively. He swirls the wine in the glass gently so that it can absorb its aroma. His attention was very focused. He had already closed his eyes, and now his entire upper body, head, neck, and chest, seemed to become a huge sensitive olfactory machine, bearing and seeping in, discerning the information that had been inhaled through his nose.
That process of smelling the wine lasted at least a minute. Then, without opening his eyes or shaking his head, Nagi Senzaemon lowered the glass to his lips and poured almost half of the wine into his mouth. He took a breath and tasted it for the first time with a mouth full of wine.
Then he let some of the wine slowly flow down his throat, and when it passed, he could see his throat squirming. But he still keeps most of the wine in his mouth.
He no longer swallowed, but inhaled a breath of air through his lips, which mixed with the taste of wine in his mouth and reached his lungs. He held his breath and let it squirt out of his nose, and finally rolled the wine under his tongue, chewing it with his teeth as if he were chewing bread.
"Hmmm......"
Nagi Senzaemon groaned for a moment, then put down his glass and stuck a dark red tongue out of his lips.
"Not bad. β
"It's a very interesting little wine β gentle and elegant, with a very feminine finish. β
Nagi Senzaemon has too much saliva in his mouth, and occasionally sprays a little shiny saliva on the table when he speaks.
"Now I can start to eliminate," Nagi Senzaemon said, "I hope you can forgive me for doing this so carefully, it has a lot to do with winning or losing." β
He looked up at Si Yingshi and smiled, a smile from his thick, wet lips.
"First of all, what county in the Bordeaux region is this wine produced? The flavours are too light to be produced neither by Saint-Emiron nor by Graf. This is clearly a kind of wine in Mydoc County. There is no doubt about that. β
"So, from which town in Maddock County did this wine come from? Is it from Margord? No, it won't be Margord. It does not have the strong aroma of margo. β
"Boya? It won't be Boya. Compared to Boja, this wine is too delicate, too mild, and too craving. In terms of the taste of Boya, its character is almost brutal. β
"At the same time, it seems to me that there is a slight bit of pith in the poya, and it contains a strange, dusty taste of the pith that the grapes draw from the soil of that county. β
"No, no. This wine is a very mild wine, elegant and shy at first taste, and on the second taste it appears with a shy and very kind demeanor. β
"On the second taste, maybe a little naughty, a little mischievous, teasing the human tongue with a hint of tannin. β
"Finally, its finish is lovely, comforting, feminine and delicate, with a certain pleasant and generous quality that one can only associate with the wine of St. Julian's. There is no doubt that this is the wine of St. Julian's Town. β
Nagi Senzaemon leaned back in his chair, his hands raised to his chest, his fingertips carefully pressed together.
"Now, let me think about itβwhere did I just go?"
"Oh, yes. This wine is from the Bordeaux region, from the town of Saint-Julian, in the county of Maidoc. So far so good. β
"But now we have a difficult place β the name of the vineyard. Because there are many vineyards in the town of St. Julian's, as Si Yingshi has aptly mentioned before, there is often not much difference between the wine of one place and the wine of another. But I'll give it a try. β
Nagi Senzaemon closed his eyes again and paused.
"I'm trying to determine how the grapes are growing," said Senzaemon Nagiri, "and if I can do that, it's half the battle." β
"Now let me think about it. This wine is clearly not the product of the first crop, or even the product of the second crop. This is not a well-known liquor. Its quality, its its, what to say? Color, strength, is lacking. However, if it is the third crop, it is possible. But I'm still skeptical. I know it's a good year, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. β
Nagi Senzaemon picked up his glass and took another sip.
"Not bad," Nagi Senzaemon smacked his lips. "I guessed right. This is the fourth stubble. β
"Now I'm sure. A very good vintage, in fact, it was a bumper harvest of the fourth crop of grapes. As a result, it tastes like a third crop, or even a wine made from a second crop. Well! One step further! The truth is getting closer! Where is the vineyard in the town of St. Julian, where is the fourth crop?"
Nagi Senzaemon paused again and raised his glass.
The rim was pressed against his drooping, swirling lower lip. Then I saw the narrow dark red tongue sticking out, dipping the tip of the tongue in the wine, and quickly retracted.
When he put the glass down, Nagi Senzaemon's eyes were still closed, his face was engrossed, only two lips were wriggling, up and down and sipping each other, like two elastic wet erasers.
"Yes, still!," he cried, "there was a tannic taste in the middle, a sharp, astringent sensation on the tongue. Yes, yes, definitely! Now I know! This wine is produced from a small vineyard near Bechevel County. I think about it now. In Bescherwell County, the river, and the little harbor that was silted up, the boats carrying wine could no longer use the harbor. Bescherwell ...... Is it really a Bethcherville wine? No, I don't think so. Not quite like that. But it's very close to there. Will it be the vineyards of Talbo Castle? Will it be Talbo? Yes, it will. Wait a while. β
(In order to reflect the awesomeness of the Ogre King, I had to describe it in detail like this)