Apple Maps Continues to Turn TV Shows Into Real-World Adventures
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One of the fascinating things about Apple’s services ecosystem is how many opportunities the company has to tie seemingly unrelated pieces together for cross-promotion. We’ve often seen Apple go all-out in commemorating significant cultural events like Black History Month , with featured content in everything from Apple TV, Books, Music, and Podcasts to Maps and Fitness. However, it’s often the smaller events that are the most whimsical ones.
For example, when Apple premiered the fifth season of Slow Horses, its highly-acclaimed spy drama, it snuck a fun little tour of London into Apple Maps as a sort of fan-service. Leveraging the Guides feature introduced in iOS 14, the virtual tour, See London the Slow Horses Way took Apple Maps users through all of the real-world locations in London that were used to represent the fictional locations in the series, such as Slough House, Regent’s Canal Bench, Blake’s Grave, and more.
Now, Apple is repeating this for the season premiere of another one of its original shows, this time with a tour that’s a bit more grounded in reality: some of the best wineries around the globe.
Drops of God is a drama starring Tomohisa Yamashita and Fleur Geffrier that’s set in the high-stakes world of fine wine competitions. It’s based on a Japanese manga series of the same name, and saw its critically-acclaimed first season run in the spring of 2023.
The first season told the story of a battle between Camille Léger (Geffrier), who has inherited the world’s finest private wine collection from her father, but must battle his protégé, Issei Tomine (Yamashita) to claim it.
The second season, which premiered on January 21, takes place three years later, and sees Camille and Issei joining forces to solve a mystery that even Camille’s legendary father couldn’t crack: the origin of the world’s greatest wine.
What begins as a pursuit of legacy becomes a search for truth that spans continents and centuries, unearthing forgotten histories, hidden rivalries and secrets buried for generations. As the search pushes them to the edges of the world, and to the darkest corners of themselves, Camille and Issei must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice.
Apple
With a globe-spanning plot line, it’s only appropriate that the latest tie-in takes us along for the ride. In this case, however, that’s to some of the world’s leading wineries.
Drops of God: A World-Class Wine Guide highlights the favorite bottles and vineyards of star Tomohisa Yamashita, whose “own love of wine rivals his character’s.”
Interspersed in between European and California wineries are Yamashita’s thoughts on the best of each, plus pairings and other recommendations, and even link to the Drops of God Season 2 playlist on Apple Music.
The Drops of God wine guide is actually the latest in a surprisingly large series of Apple Maps Guides that tie into Apple Originals, including the aforementioned Slow Horses tour of London, plus Iconic Tracks in F1: The Movie, Eugene Levy’s Ultimate Bucket List Tour, and Chief of War Tour: Hawai’i & New Zealand.
