A French woman who gets sick from alcohol and a Japanese wine expert compete for a billionaire-dollar wine collection. This is the simple start of Apple TV+‘s award-winning series Drops of God. The show mixes family drama with a global wine competition, creating a story that is easy to follow even if you know nothing about wine. With Season 2 arriving on January 21, 2026, now is the perfect time to catch up on the stylish and emotional first season.
The show is based on a popular Japanese manga and has won major awards, including an International Emmy for Best Drama Series. It stars Fleur Geffrier as Camille and Tomohisa Yamashita as Issei, whose rivalry turns into one of the most compelling relationships on television.
How the Wine Competition Began
The story begins with the death of Alexandre Léger, a world-famous wine critic. His estranged daughter, Camille, travels from France to Tokyo for his funeral. She has not spoken to her father in years and has a deep personal issue: the taste of alcohol makes her physically ill, causing intense reactions like nosebleeds.
At the reading of the will, Camille meets Issei Tomine. He is Alexandre’s star student, treated like a “spiritual son”. The lawyer reveals Alexandre’s final wish: his estate, including a legendary wine collection valued at over $100 million, will not simply be inherited. Instead, Camille and Issei must face each other in a three-part wine competition designed by Alexandre himself.
The first test is a blind tasting. Camille and Issei must drink one glass of wine and correctly identify it. For Issei, a talented taster, this is his specialty. For Camille, who cannot drink, it seems like an impossible and cruel challenge set by the father who abandoned her.
The Key Characters and Their Motivations
- Camille Léger (Fleur Geffrier): A writer who feels abandoned by her father. She initially wants nothing to do with his world of wine, which she associates with childhood trauma. She decides to compete not for the money, but to finally understand her father and confront her past.
- Issei Tomine (Tomohisa Yamashita): A brilliant oenology student pressured by his powerful family to give up wine and join their diamond business. He sees winning the competition as a way to gain the respect and freedom to pursue his own passion.
- Alexandre Léger (Stanley Weber): Seen in video messages and flashbacks, the late wine master is a mysterious figure. His complex competition seems designed to do more than just pick an heir; it forces both Camille and Issei to grow.
- The Supporting Network: Camille gets help from Philippe Chassangre, an old friend of her father’s, and his son Thomas, who becomes her reluctant tutor in a French vineyard. Issei navigates his strict family while forming a connection with a journalist, Yurika, who is curious about the high-stakes contest.
Breaking Down the Three Tests
The first season is structured around the three challenges left by Alexandre Léger.
The First Test: Identify the Wine
This initial challenge forces Camille to face her fear. With Thomas’s help in France, she begins re-training her senses, not by drinking wine, but by isolating the individual scents that compose it—like grass, fruit, or soil. Meanwhile, Issei prepares with confidence in Japan. The test ends in a surprising way that pushes both competitors to the next stage.
The Second Test: A Global Scavenger Hunt
The second phase sends Camille and Issei around the world following clues related to wine. Camille’s journey takes her to Italy, expanding the show’s beautiful scenery beyond France and Japan. This test is less about pure tasting skill and more about understanding the story, history, and culture behind a wine. It deepens the show’s exploration of how wine connects to art, memory, and human experience.
The Third Test: Create a “Dream Wine”
For the final round, Camille and Issei are brought together at the Chassangre vineyard in France. Their task is to create a new wine by blending from existing vintages in the cellar, aiming to match a sample provided by Alexandre. Forced into close quarters, their dynamic shifts from pure rivalry to a strained partnership. They begin to share stories about Alexandre, realizing they each knew a different side of the same man.
The Major Twists and Season Finale Reveals
The final episodes deliver major emotional reveals that change everything about the competition.
The biggest discovery is that Camille and Issei are half-siblings. Issei learns that Alexandre Léger is his biological father, a secret kept from him by his mother to protect him from his grandfather’s disapproval. This revelation transforms their relationship. They are no longer just rivals for an inheritance; they are family fighting over their father’s legacy.
“This is exactly how I pictured a dinner in your country,” Issei says during a meal in France. “Everyone talks too loud, touches each other, laughs…. I feel very lucky to be here tonight. To see happiness during the meal is precious”.
In the finale, titled All or Nothing, the results of the final test are announced: a tie. Alexandre planned for this, leaving one last “sudden death” challenge: they must identify the true “Drops of God”.
Camille wins by remembering a childhood moment with her father during a storm, where he told her that rain—the “drops of God”—is what gives life to wine. She realizes the contest was tailored for her all along, a final lesson from her father. Feeling the setup was unfair to Issei, she refuses to accept the prize under those terms.
How Season 1 Ended: A New Beginning
Camille and Issei defy Alexandre’s manipulative game. Instead of one winner taking all, they find a loophole. Camille gains control of the wine guidebook business. She then arranges to auction the famous wine collection, only to secretly buy it back and give half to Issei.
Issei rejects the biological father who was never part of his life, choosing to reconcile with the man who raised him, Hirokazu. The season ends not with a single victor, but with two people who started as enemies choosing family and fairness over a billion-dollar prize. They part as brother and sister, with an unbreakable bond formed through their shared ordeal.
What to Know Before Season 2 Arrives
Season 2 of Drops of God is scheduled to premiere on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, on Apple TV+. New episodes will be released weekly, with the season concluding on March 11, 2026.
The story will move beyond the inheritance battle. Camille and Issei, now working as a team, will take on an even bigger mystery: finding the origin of the world’s greatest wine, a puzzle their legendary father could not solve. Their search will span continents and centuries, uncovering hidden histories and testing their new sibling bond against powerful rivalries and personal secrets.
The first season is available to stream in full on Apple TV+. It consists of eight episodes and has been praised by critics, holding a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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