Nyan Nyan Nouveau of Japan: Wine Sparkling With Catnip, Grape Juice, Resveratrol, Vitamin C for Cats

Wine-lovers generally associate alcoholic drink-making in Japan with yellow koji mold (Aspergillus oryzae) converting rice starch to sugars and fermenting cereal beverages. The process delivers brews known as:

• Clear liquor (seishu);
• Japanese liquor (nihonshu);
• Liquor (saké);
• Rice beer;
• Rice wine.

But it does not constitute the only way of putting wines and wine equivalents in shops and on tables throughout the Japanese islands. The Land of the Rising Sun indeed emerges as one of the world’s minor growing regions for producing grape (budōshu) and red (chintashu) liquors thanks to the insular farmers of:

• Hokkaido -- Kamikawa and Tokachi Subprefectures;
• Honshu -- Chūbu, Kansai, Kantō, and Tōhoku Regions;
• Kyushu -- Miyazaki Prefecture.

The Japanese also import grape-based wines. 

Imported wines and lucky cats in fact inspire the release by B&H Lifes in 2013 of cat-intended red sparkling wines through the limited edition Nyan Nyan Nouveau (“New Meow Meow”). Japan lines up second to Germany on lists of major importers of Beaujolais nouveau (“Relating to new Beaujeu wine”). The red wine may be bottled -- within 6 to 8 weeks of carbon dioxide-mediated crushed and uncrushed fermenting -- and sold -- as of 12:01 a.m. local time on the third Thursday in November -- in the same year as the Gamay noir à jus blanc (“black Gamay with white juice”) grape harvest. Ubiquitous good-luck figurines of the beckoning cat (maneki-neko) undoubtedly welcome Beaujolais nouveau shipments into Japan. 

But what exactly about Nyan Nyan Nouveau appeals to cats? Catnip (Nepeta cataria) -- also called catmint and catswort -- appears on ingredient lists. The plant attains a height of 19.69 – 39.37 inches (50 – 100 centimeters). It claims a square-shaped stem. It develops brown-green, coarse-toothed, triangle-shaped leaves. It grows butterfly-attracting, fragrant, small, spring- and fall-blooming flowers whose white background hints at delicate, light pink and purple spotting. It has culinary and medicinal uses in:

• Infusions;
• Juices;
• Poultices;
• Teas;
• Tinctures.

Its essential oil, nepetalactone, is known to:

• Attract aphid- and mite-eating lacewings;
• Repel aphids, cockroaches, deer, flies, mosquitoes, squash bugs, and termites.

Chewing and sniffing irresistibly motivate domestic and feral cats (excluding lions) respectively to sedation or stimulation. 

Grape juice adds to the fragrance, look, and taste of Nyan Nyan Nouveau for cats. Cabernet (Vitis vinifera ‘Cabernet’) grapes are the source. They count among the world’s fruiting, purple-colored berries which yield fresh, smooth red wines. Specialists do not know what the name originally means or why the variety is so-called. Possible etymologies draw upon:

• The articulation of Arabic, Basque, and Occitanian influences on identification of vines with dark, small-sized berries;
• The association with the purplish-red color carmine.

The former suggestion finds credibility in Cabernet grapes:

• Relating closely to wild varieties;
• Spreading from the piedmont portions in the southern Basque language-speaking provinces of Álava, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa northward into the northern Basque language-speaking province of Lapurdi. 

Resveratrol figures among Nyan Nyan Nouveau’s publicized ingredients. It functions as another of the natural inputs in the production of the feline wine. The chemical compound has natural occurrences in:

• The root system of Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica, Polygonum cuspidatum);
• The thick skins of such hardy, insect- and rot-resistant, late-budding, red grape varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’).

It is produced when plants are attacked by pathogenic bacteria and fungi or suffer injury. Research may show that resveratrol has the possibility of increasing metabolism and slowing aging. But much needs to be done since discovery of the stilbenoid (plant molecule) only dates back to 1939. Knowledge will not be served by resveratrol-in-a-bottle testing of cats. 

Vitamin C emerges as another acknowledged ingredient of Nyan Nyan Nouveau for cats. As a vitamin, it functions as an organic substance whose minute presence nevertheless guarantees healthy metabolism. It gets grouped with the waste-eliminated, water-soluble B complex vitamins and separated from the fat-soluble, lipocyte-stored A, D, E, and K vitamins. It readily gets renewed by natural synthesis from glucose in feline livers. It holds down such critical responsibilities as:

• Assisting healing;
• Bolstering the immune system;
• Preventing urinary tract infections;
• Synthesizing collagen for connective tissues.

Its deficiency is evidenced in problems with:

• Burning calories;
• Resisting disease and injury.

Its surfeit through unhealthy overproduction or unregulated supplements links with:

• Conversion of oxalate into bladder stones;
• Over-absorption of iron.

B&H Lifes draws upon strong research and sales departments. Expert investigations examine product sustainability through look, scent, and taste tests. Savvy marketing expresses itself in Nyan Nyan Nouveau’s brown-tinted bottle whose graphics include a lucky black cat (kuro-neko) on the label and the screw-on cap. Red sparkling wine for cats clearly finds a customer base since demand exceeded supply shortly after the release date of Tuesday, October 14, 2013. The intended consumer is hypothesized to be cats. But that may not be the ultimate identities of the product’s drinkers since:

• Cats do not need any of the listed ingredients and may find grape juice toxic;
• No post-sales survey is available;
• Nyan Nyan Nouveau is a tasty wine-wannabe.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Aspergillus oryzae growing on rice: essential for making alcoholic beverages such as saké in Japan
Aspergillus oryzae's species name reflects its natural occurrence on rice (Oryza sativa).: Forrest O., CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aspergillus_oryzae_(麹).jpg; fo.ol, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://flickr.com/photos/37996589754@N01/2639687064

vineyard at Katsunuma, a major wine producing area in Japan
Yamanashi Prefecture, Chūbu region, central Honshu: genta_hgr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Katsunuma_vineyard_02.jpg; genta_hgr, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/26619536@N05/3374702410/

black Maneki neko in Asakusa district
Asakusa district, Taitō ward, northeastern central Tokyo, Kantō region, southeastern Honshu: Kondo Atsushi, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maneki_neko_at_Asasuka.jpg; doronko, CC BY SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/25962965@N04/3431931026

catnip (Nepeta cataria) leaves: irresistible ingredient in Nyan Nyan Nouveau
Willard Farm, town of Harvard, northeastern Worcester County, north central Massachusetts: liz west (Muffet), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catnip_,_Nepeta_cataria.jpg; liz west (Muffet), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/476705091/

Cabernet Franc grapes and foliage: Nyan Nyan Nouveau features Cabernet grapes.
viticulture trail, Schemelsberg hill, Weinsberg, Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany: Rosenzweig, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cabernet_Franc_Weinsberg_20060909.jpg

Nyan Nyan Nouveau also features resveratrol, a naturally occurring compound in root systems of Japanese knotwood and in skins of red grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
3d molecular spacefill of Resveratrol
high resolution image created with MarvinSketch and QuteMol on MacOSX: Ccroberts, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Resveratrol3d.png

"A cat eyes a glass of Nyan Nyan Nouveau, recently released in Japan especially for cats." Illustration by B&H Lifes
Yumi Otagaki, "Cats Sniff, But Owners Yowl for Specialty Wine," The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2013: The Wall Street Journal, via Facebook Oct. 18, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/WSJ/posts/10152001272028128/; via Facebook Oct. 18, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/wsj/photos/a.392580748127/10152001272028128/; via Facebook Oct. 18, 2013, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10152001272028128&set=a.392580748127

Japanese Company Creates Special Wine for Cats
Uploaded October 16, 2013, by GeoBeats News to YouTube ~ URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqWeVNSiNlE
via YouTube, @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqWeVNSiNlE
*URL message: This video isn't available anymore
*Replaced with:
Animalist. "Kittens Love Catnip Wine" (1:06). YouTube, October 21, 2013, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeqD6pQl2d4&t=1s

Japan ranks second, after Germany, as major importer of Beaujolais Nouveau wine.
Beaujolais wine region, south of Burgundy, east central France: Geoff Wong, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaujolais_Wine_country.jpg; Geoff Wong (keepwaddling1), All Rights Reserved, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/32426054@N07/3669790095

Wine catoisseur
Photo details: "No corrections were made, bare photo, artificial light.": Ralf Smallkaa (smallkaa), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/smallkaa/6272485584/

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