I bought this Riesling Auslese from Umemura back in 2008 for ¥2,680. Normally, that’s the kind of price range where I’d just drink it right away, but since it was a half-bottle, it somehow ended up shoved in the back of the cellar, gathering dust—until I “unearthed” it the other day. Given all that, I opened it without expecting much… But wow—what a surprise. It had transformed into something absolutely spectacular, a real home run. As you can see in the photo, the color was a medium gold with a hint of straw. The nose was strikingly aromatic: classic petrol notes, dried fruits like apricot, baked apple… that slightly plastic, PVC-like nuance—often called the “Kewpie doll” aroma—is something beautifully unique to well-aged Riesling. The palate wasn’t cloyingly sweet at all. With the alcohol at just 10%, it felt lighter than I expected. The acidity was still very much alive, giving the sweetness excellent balance. My wife took a sip and said, “It tastes like concentrated apple juice,” and she wasn’t wrong—it really did have a cidery, intensely condensed apple character. Honestly, I had no idea a twenty-something-hundred-yen bottle could age this well. This was a real eye-opener.