Udo-san: Traveling all over the world to taste fine wine

On a warm early winter morning, in the lobby bar of Beijing Xinhai Jinjiang Hotel, the sun shone all over the floor. Niu Daosheng leaned on the sofa and ordered a 1992 Chinese dry red. Udo-san likes wine. In Japan, he drank Japanese shochu, red wine, beer and sake; in the United States, he drank American beer; in China, he not only drank Shaoxing rice wine, Chinese red wine, beer, but also Chinese liquor with higher degrees such as Shuijingfang and Wuliangye. But his favorite is red wine, and he likes red wine from all over the world. He is keen to taste the different flavors of different red wines, and is often indulged in the graceful feeling of wine tasting.

Knowing liquor

It's not easy for Udo-san to fully recall the early drinking scene, because it was a long time ago. However, he still found some fragments of his deep memory.

36 years ago, Ushishima-san, who had just passed the legal drinking age, saw his father drinking and was curious to try a beer. Soon he regretted his curiosity a little: he didn't like the bitter taste of beer.

After graduating from university, Ushishima worked for a trading company in Japan. As a fledgling, he had to participate in some business entertainment in order to carry out his work. Similar to the Chinese habit, the Japanese also like to connect their feelings in the intertwining of Gongchou. For Ushima-san, who is not yet accustomed to alcohol, this is an extremely painful errand.

25 years ago, Ushimado was sent to the United States by Epson. Moving your family to a different place can be uncomfortable at first. Every day when he came home from get off work, Niu Daosheng had to talk to his wife about some family matters. "At that time we were drinking beer and chatting, and I gradually realized that beer was less annoying."

Five years later, Ushishima returned to Japan. Due to the work relationship, there were many opportunities to contact the president of the Japanese Epson sales company at that time. The president likes red wine very much, and often brings Udo-san to various wine gatherings. At this time, he was exposed to red wine for the first time and had a preliminary understanding of red wine.

Love wine

Ushido-san has been in charge of overseas markets at Epson. In July 1995, due to outstanding performance, he was transferred to Epson Sales Company as the director of the board of directors, responsible for the company's market development and sales. It was in that year that he met a photographer, whose words made him suddenly madly "in love" with red wine.

“He said that the regional color of wine is relatively strong. Japan has sake, China has white wine, and people in every place like to drink local wine, but red wine can be made and drunk all over the world, and everyone can drink it. You can find the red wine that suits you. It can be said that only red wine has the characteristics of transcending nationality, transcending region, and transcending cultural boundaries." different flavors. Trying to find the novelty and magic of exotic cultures from the small differences in each glass of wine. During that time, he was obsessed with red wine! He has to drink red wine at home, in bars, and in interactions with colleagues and clients. He will tear off the wine label for every bottle he drinks and keep a detailed record of the time, place, drinker's name and his thoughts on the wine. He made four books of such a "wine label album" in one breath, and was determined to drink all the luscious red wines in the world.

However, what's really amazing is that 10 years later, Niu Daosheng has drunk hundreds of red wines from different regions, but when he looks back, what he loves most is the experience when he first came into contact with red wine. The bottle on the table is CH.HAUT BRION from the Bordeaux region. Niu Daosheng said that it was the first time he had tasted high-quality red wine, and the pure taste made him unforgettable.

It's also a bit of "the man is in the dim light".

Wine tasting

Even though he has drank so much wine, even if he already has his favorite bottle, Niu Daosheng still wants to taste the taste that he has never tasted, and the taste that he has never perceived. Fresh. "I drank South African red wine yesterday," he said with a smug smile on his face.

Actually, Niu Daosheng's spirit of "seeking novelty" can be seen in his youth. In 1977, Niu Daosheng received an invitation from Epson and resolutely left his original employment unit and chose to change jobs. Such a move was very rare in Japan, which was pursuing a lifetime employment system at the time.

Later, he went to Epson America, and in 2003 he came to China to serve as the general manager of Epson China. Niu Daosheng made such a choice intentionally. He said that a dull job is always boring, so he doesn't want his job to be the same.

After coming to China, Niu Daosheng's drinking habits have undergone some changes. Having not found a bar that can provide good red wine, Ushishima Sheng prefers to let his wife prepare some side dishes or dishes at home, turn on the music, and toast with his wife to enjoy wine tasting in the graceful and melodious music.

Still, living in China for two years has not made him accustomed to the strong taste of Chinese liquor, especially the way Chinese people like to drink toast. However, Niu Daosheng admitted that he had never been drunk before drinking, and after three rounds of drinking, he began to remind himself that "it is better to drink less".