WG x TDOG WineSalon
Peter Chiang is a self-admitted otaku, a manga nerd. So when his father asked him if he thought it wise to partner with the creators of The Drops of God, a manga about a high stakes wine tasting, Chiang was all in.
“The Drops of God resonates with people,” says Chiang, CEO of Kanpai Wines in Napa Valley, Ca. The popular manga series, which has 44 volumes, features two half-brothers who compete to correctly identify 13 rare wines in order to inherit their late father’s extensive wine collection. One son is a trained sommelier and one is not; readers learn while following their contest. “No one has made wine education this fun and this interesting before.”
Serendipitously, Chiang had heard of the series in a wine education class at the CIA in St. Helena, CA, focusing on the growing Asian wine market. Fans use The Drops of God as a sort of wine bible, he says, taking it with them to stores, restaurants and vineyards to find featured wines, which literally fly off shelves. Chiang cites an early contest pitting Opus One v. Chateau Mon Perat, which resulted in the sales of 50,000 bottles of the French wine in Taiwan — in two days.
“Internationally, there are 300 million fans. That is the population of the U.S.,” says Chiang, also a VP of Tadaima Inc., which includes Kanpai Wines and The Pink Mansion, a Bed and Breakfast in Napa. (The Japanese word tadaima, charmingly, roughly translates to “hi, I’m home.”). “I’m usually conservative when my father asks my opinion but I said, ‘Dad, this is a no-brainer.’ “
This opinion landed Chiang the plum task of helping The Drops of God creators curate the first ever U.S. The Drops of God WineSalon. But serendipity didn’t stop there: during his due diligence, he came across a wine industry article rounding up new ways people interact with wine, which featured The Drops of God. Also included was a new wine app Chiang hadn’t heard of called —you guessed it — WineGame.
He quickly reached out to WG CEO Rob Wilder. “It just made sense,” says Chiang, “to create a version of the WineGame app embedded with the trivia of the story.”
The WineGame team stepped up immediately. “The Drops of God and WineSalon share the same goal as WineGame: encouraging people to enjoy and engage with wine, no pretension, no rules. Just have fun, feel inspired, enjoy time with friends,” says Sarah Munson, WG CMO.
WineSalon subscription members will receive quarterly shipments featuring wines picked in the same sensibility as those in the series. The first bottles have in fact been hand-picked by Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, the brother-sister team that write and illustrate the story.
“The creators are super geeky about wine. They have 100s of cases in their cellars. Fundamentally the whole journey [of the characters in Drops of God] is an answer to the question: Why do we drink wine? For them, it’s context driven. It’s the people you’re with, the food you eat and the memory of the occasion,” says Chiang.
WineSalon redefines the wine club by personalizing members’ wine journeys. And that’s where WineGame comes in. A custom WineGame and tastings at Meet the Winemaker events can further define each unique wine palate. The WineSalon team will drill down member preference like a personal sommelier would do, collecting feedback, and recommending bottles for the next shipment that advance member’s wine experience.
“We’re calling it a salon because the philosophical salons of the renaissance era drew people together to discuss the meaning of life,” Chiang says. “We’re asking, ‘what does wine mean to you?’ We aren’t putting the authors as the authority: they want to help people create their own memorable wine moments.”
To whit: Events were held in Napa Valley and Beverly Hills, California, October 19-21 kick off The Drops of God wine salon, featuring pairings with food by Thomas Keller and José Andrés, and the chance to meet the series’ creators.
Check out WineSalon for pics and more info.