Even a week after Warren joined Redwood, the aftershocks showed no sign of easily subsiding. The place most affected by those ripples was UC Davis, which held tremendous influence over the region and its agriculture. Local residents might talk it over with people they knew and leave it at that, but for the university’s professors and students, it was a subject that could easily last for years.
Then the question was answered through a magazine called Wine Observer Magazine.
《Special Column - Warren Winiarski, Why Did He Go to Redwood?》
In the column, he confessed that although he had achieved remarkable accomplishments over the past fifty years, his passion had begun to cool with age. Then, one day, he had spoken with the young owner of a small winery in Napa, and, captivated by his vision and new perspective, he had rediscovered the passion he had thought he had lost.
“What? Rediscovered his lost passion? He saw his younger self in him? Is this for real?”
Jonathan, who had been reading the magazine in the living room with a bewildered expression, looked around for agreement. His older brother Andrew, Brad Cooper of Michelle Wine Estates, and Alessandro Bellini of Marchesi Antinori all wore expressions that said they had no idea.
“That’s what we’d like to ask. The way he talks, it’s as if there’s a winery greater than Stag’s Leap... To be honest, it rubs me the wrong way.”
Alessandro Bellini, sitting with his legs crossed as he leaned against the sofa, had long legs and a handsome face that made him look like a model, but that face was extremely stiff. Seeing that, the two brothers grew anxious for no reason.
The deal was already done, and money had changed hands between them, so they were less worried about it falling through than about some pointless misunderstanding leading to a lawsuit. They had to stop that from happening as best they could.
Andrew said with an awkward smile.
“Let’s not think of it in such a negative way. If anything, isn’t it practically a declaration that Father won’t go to another winery and make use of Stag’s Leap’s wine blending?”
That was true. In fact, if one analyzed the contents of the magazine interview carefully, it ultimately meant that the only way to drink the wine Warren had once made was to buy and drink wine released by Stag’s Leap. Brad and Alessandro, who were present, knew that as well.
The problem was that the explanation itself felt even more offensive.
“I understand that, but... as a result of this interview, wine lovers are now waiting for Redwood’s wine more than Stag’s Leap’s. The Stag’s Leap we paid one hundred eighty million dollars for is about to become worthless.”
At Brad’s cold glare, the two brothers were momentarily flustered. They had usually been so close that they were practically brothers, so they did not know how to react to his sudden change in attitude.
Just then, footsteps could be heard. The uneven, slow gait made it clear who the owner of those footsteps was, even before he appeared.
“Father!”
As his two sons had hoped, Warren soon walked in slowly, glanced over the guests, and said as he passed through the living room.
“You keep coming by even though the acquisition is already over. There shouldn’t be anything left for you to gain.”
As if he had been waiting for those words, Brad spoke in an unpleasant tone.
“I read the magazine interview. I can respect your passion, that at your age you still have something you want to learn, but still, isn’t that going too far?”
“Going too far?”
At Warren’s gaze, which hardened immediately as he glared at him, Brad did not look away and lowered his voice even further.
“The way you explained yourself unsettled us, the people who acquired Stag’s Leap. Something to learn... something to learn... Hahaha! You really do know how to put people at a loss. And from an Asian young man who’s only about to graduate from college, no less.”
Even as Brad burst into laughter, unable to believe it at all, Warren’s stiff expression did not ease.
“You think I’m lying.”
“There’s no way that could be true!”
Watching him grow agitated, Warren raised one corner of his mouth. Seeing Brad so anxious after watching him work so hard to entice his two sons all this time felt unbearably satisfying inside.
“How strange. In any case, once you see the wine we release, won’t you know later whether it contains my techniques or not?”
“I understand that you’ve made up your mind not to leak Stag’s Leap’s techniques. But do you not realize that the way you explained it has diminished Stag’s Leap’s value?”
At those words, Warren’s eyes opened like a tiger’s, and he shouted.
“Nonsense! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
“......”
After looking around once at Brad, who flinched, and the others seated on the living room sofa, Warren spoke clearly, word by word.
“The Stag’s Leap I’ve built up until now is not so flimsy that it can be diminished by a single word from me. Even if I were to develop dementia and fail to recognize my own children’s faces, Stag’s Leap’s value would remain the same. As long as you maintain the system I created as it is... So stop trying to wring something more out of me and go back to your companies and do your work. And...”
He looked at Alessandro and reproached him.
“I can understand if Michelle Wine, whose main focus is daily wine, doesn’t know much about fine wine, but I don’t understand why someone from Antinori is acting this way with him.”
At the words that sounded as if he was saying Brad Cooper might not know any better, but Alessandro should, Brad’s face flushed red. Alessandro, meanwhile, lowered his head with an awkward expression.
“To be honest, the magazine article seemed so absurd that I wondered whether you were deliberately trying to put us in a difficult position.”
“Hmph! Why would I? And if I had truly intended to do that, do you think I would have gone to that small winery? If I had made up my mind from the start to harass either side, I would have released the hundred-dollar wines piled up in the warehouse for thirty dollars.”
Brad, who understood what those words meant, bit his lip. In other words, if Warren had wanted to, he could have wiped out something on the level of Michelle Wine in one blow.
“Do you think I have that much free time? Do you think my life is that trivial? Tsk, tsk, tsk...”
“If I misunderstood, I sincerely apologize. Marchesi Antinori will preserve the Stag’s Leap you created as much as possible, maintaining and expanding the brand.”
“Ahem... If you do that, I’d be grateful.”
Alessandro of Antinori looked bitterly at Warren’s retreating back, then rose from his seat.
“I’ll be going now.”
Realizing he should never have come here, he left without even accepting the two brothers’ farewells. Brad, on the other hand, forced down the anger surging inside him and said to the two brothers.
“I hope you don’t think Mr. Warren’s words mean we believe that magazine interview. In the end, he still did not clearly explain that absurd interview. I must make it clear that depending on what kind of wine comes out of Redwood, our actions will change as well.”
After issuing that warning, he stormed out without waiting for a reply.
“Damn it... So now that the winery is in their hands, that’s how it is?”
“Forget it. No need to worry about it. Father will handle it.”
“But things seem to be getting serious with San Jose real estate too.”
At his older brother Andrew’s concern, Jonathan shrugged.
“What about it? It’s just temporary. Honestly, it’s a good thing. If real estate hadn’t been shaken up, would we have been able to buy that building for a hundred million dollars?”
Thinking his younger brother had a point, Andrew nodded.
“That’s true, but... it still makes me uneasy.”
“The people who should feel uneasy are the ones who bought houses. And when things are this uncertain, that’s when there are opportunities for people like us. A chance to grab cheap real estate.”
At the strong desire flickering in his younger brother’s eyes, Andrew gradually began to be influenced by it as well.
“Looking at it that way, there’s no need to worry about prices falling.”
“I’m already looking at a few more buildings. You know Fabian, the real estate agent? The friend in LA.”
“Ah...!”
“He recommended some prime buildings that came out cheap. Take a look.”
Andrew began to focus on the catalog his younger brother had brought. Before they knew it, the two of them had completely forgotten the concerns they had been discussing just moments ago.
---
The aftermath of the magazine interview reached Redwood as well, but it soon faded. After all, people’s hearts flutter when they happen to see someone they normally could not, not when they can see that person every day.
Since Warren was coming to the winery every day, Dad and the workers had now grown used to him and no longer thought much of it. If he was out in the vineyard or in the aging room, they simply assumed he was doing his work and did not wonder about it.
At first, I too found it incredibly novel and was excited to work with someone who had been regarded as a legend before my regression, but as time passed, he simply became a colleague I worked with.
“Kenaz Vineyards, 2004 Merlot Barrel? Is this something you brought in before?”
Seeing the barrel stored very carefully among the stacked oak barrels in the aging room, his eyes lit up.
“That’s right. I bought it at auction around the year before last.”
“Kenaz Vineyards isn’t that famous. How much did you pay?”
“Three hundred dollars per case?”
Perhaps because the price was so insignificant, Warren’s brow furrowed.
“Three hundred dollars? That’s all?”
“The price was low, but at the time, it couldn’t be helped. The flavor hadn’t awakened yet.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
He stroked the oak barrel, then looked at me with a broad grin.
“May I taste it?”
“Of course. I was planning to show you the taste anyway.”
“Next time you have something like this, I’d like you to tell me before I find it.”
“I told you I was going to...”
I used a barrel sampler to pour the wine into a glass and handed it to him. Warren’s face had already stiffened at the deep aroma of the Merlot drawn straight from the barrel. After swirling the glass a few times to awaken the aroma a little more, he took a sip with a grave expression and closed his eyes. Then,
“Insane... A Merlot with this kind of deep, condensed feeling...”
“It wasn’t at this level at the time, so everyone ignored it. It was extremely rough. Thanks to that, I was able to seize good fortune.”
“How were you so sure? Other wineries aren’t fools, so if it met any ordinary standard, they wouldn’t have passed it by.”
He asked with eyes that looked as though he had discovered the most interesting thing in the world.
“I checked the polyphenol index and color intensity. Once I confirmed that the polyphenol index was over seventy, I decided I would take it no matter what if the price was under a thousand dollars per case.”
“The polyphenol index was over seventy...? Haha, of course. You checked that before the auction.”
Even at this time, several high-end large wineries knew what effect the polyphenol index had on wine. Naturally, Stag’s Leap would not have been ignorant of this sort of numerical analysis blending.
However, knowing it and trying to make use of it was one thing; being certain enough at an actual auction to bid based on that number alone was another matter entirely.
“So this is what it means to make wine with data...?”
He had already made up his mind to learn Redwood Winery’s unique method, but experiencing another surprise firsthand left him greatly astonished.
“I’m planning to compare this with this year’s Cabernet Sauvignon from our farm and the Cabernet from the newly acquired farm, then blend them.”
“You must already have some ideas in mind.”
“What about you, sir?”
“As for me... plenty comes to mind.”
The number of wines he had released until now was beyond counting. So even with just this Merlot, more than a dozen different combinations came to his mind on the spot.
“Since I can’t use the methods I used at Stag’s Leap, if I think only in terms of your winery’s wines, there’s a pattern where we add fifteen percent Merlot to an Echelon-style Cabernet, or perhaps blend Pinot Noir with this.”
“You’ve already thought that far?”
“I don’t even need to think hard. It just comes to me.”
He flicked his fingers with a whoosh, like a bird skimming past his head, and grinned.
“Haha, that’s amazing.”
“It’s nothing. So what were you thinking?”
I took out my notebook and opened to a page I had written down before. Warren read the contents of the notebook and furrowed his brow.
“Twenty-two percent Merlot? Haha... And you’re using this much Cabernet Franc?”
“Is it strange?”
“It is strange... It’ll have a strong grassy note. But if you wrote it down, you must have a reason.”
“Hmm... This is where I need your help, sir. Do you happen to know any winery that sells good Cabernet Franc?”
He stared at me blankly, then spoke with an incredulous expression.
“I do know. In fact... I’m probably the one who knows best.”
“That’s good. Would you show me the way?”
Warren downed the Merlot in one gulp, then winked and said.
“Fine. In exchange, you have a bottle of Echelon hidden away that you’re not selling, don’t you? Bring one of those out. My friend won’t meet people easily without a bribe.”