My first trip to Japan, in 1998, began with an enormous crowd of Japanese paparazzi and television crews, all waiting for me to clear customs in Tokyo (a first-time experience for this wine critic). Over the next five days, the attention never waned.

The first famous winemaking consultant was the late professor Emile Peynaud, who reigned over Bordeaux throughout the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s.

I'm an entrepreneur first and a wine critic second.

This is the first clear warning in a very long time by the U.S. that Japan should not cap the rise in the yen. The yen is the cheapest it has been for 20 years and will inevitably regain ground.

I think the Japanese love young, tannic red wines much more than most Americans do. Perhaps it is because Asians have a great fondness for tea, and tea is a very tannic beverage. Therefore a young, tannic red wine is something familiar to an Asian palate.

Nineteen years old, your first trip, do you have any idea how long we have been waiting?