From father to son since 1610 is the proud boast of the Amoreau family about their Chateau Le Puy. It is just another of those honest Bordeaux family companies with the only point of difference being that the grapes are grown without the use of pesticides and no sulfites are added to the wine. Nothing about it at all to rocket it to wine stardom. Until a Japanese comic book writer picked it for a starring role in one of his pot boiler epics.

Then a popular Japanese manga comic series about wine — “The Drops of God” (Kami no Shizuku) – included it in its story of an estranged son who is pitted against his adopted brother, a talented sommelier, in solving a series of enigmas that describe 12 wines that his father, a famous Japanese wine critic, considered to be the equivalent of Jesus Christ’s Disciples. The first son to find the “Disciples,” along with a 13th wine, which the father calls the “Drops of God,” will inherit an extraordinary collection of fine wines.

The Amoreau family has since been inundated with orders from Japan and has now featured on BBC television.

First a comic book star and now of BBC television
First a comic book star and now of BBC television

Jean-Pierre Amoreau’s response to this fame has been muted. Recently he announced that he was ceasing international sales of his 2003 vintage in order to deter speculation and to retain a small stock for his loyal customers.