The last sun of 2009 was setting beyond the Mayacamas Mountains. And at the Redwood Winery, warm lights overflowed to mark the year's end.
At the center of the terrace, tonight's protagonists had taken their places around a massive table made from an ancient tree. Brian and his lover Chloe; Armando, who had captured the pride of a Mexican immigrant in bottles of vinegar; Sienna, who had risen as a new star of Sonoma; and Jacob, a hulking giant of 190cm who had now become a business mogul through soju and brandy.
"Now, everyone raise your glasses! To 2009, to the historic year when our proud Brian humbled Bordeaux and turned Napa's soil to gold!"
Jacob shouted, raising a slender wine glass in his bear-like hand. His voice pleasantly shattered the stillness of the terrace.
"Jacob, you'll break the glass. Ease up."
I smiled and clinked my glass against his. The clear sound of crystal rang through the night air. Tonight's first glass was the Astra Veil, which had now become the symbol of Redwood. Having won Best of Show two years running in the San Francisco Chronicle, its overwhelming aroma of fruit filled the space.
"Wow... this wine gives me chills every time. This isn't alcohol, it's art, seriously."
Armando held the wine in his mouth and marveled. Sienna, seated beside him, swirled her glass with an expert's eye and added,
"With a solid structure as its foundation, the fruit on this Merlot is truly remarkable. Brian, how did you draw out such a clean texture? Even my L'Esprit Sauvage has good complexity, but I'm still far from this level of transparency."
I had already tasted the L'Esprit Sauvage that she had made. With only three hundred cases produced, I couldn't even receive a full bottle as a gift; instead, Armando had brought about 300ml in a small thermos, telling me to drink it quickly before the aroma faded.
Even so, I could recognize the potential of L'Esprit Sauvage. The intense aroma, unlike anything achievable with conventional yeasts, felt like an expansion of Harrington Winery's former limits.
That said, I had some doubts as to whether L'Esprit Sauvage was a wine so superior that it could challenge cult status. Its aroma was certainly explosive, but its weak structure made it difficult to gain recognition as it aged, and those who disliked such an explosive fragrance would likely have a strong aversion to it. Therefore, with a release wholesale price set at sixty-five dollars, it was certainly a wine with a price tag to match, but it was hard to call it near-perfect.
It meant that Sienna's assessment that she still had a long way to go was by no means false modesty.
"But I heard that Andrew, the head winemaker, was astonished? He said that in forty years of winemaking, he'd never seen such a Pinot Noir."
At my praise, Sienna shrugged her shoulders as if embarrassed, and Chloe added her own compliments.
"My father also praised L'Esprit Sauvage enormously. He said I absolutely must get him another bottle later, you know?"
As the night deepened, the conversation ripened. The Astra Veil was emptied, and finally, the mythic 'Ether,' which had received a perfect score from Robert Parker, revealed itself. Having breathed sufficiently in the decanter, Ether filled the glasses with a heavy, commanding presence.
I asked Jacob, who was shuddering at a single sip of Ether.
"Is your mother doing better?"
Jacob lightly touched the bridge of his nose and smiled awkwardly.
"These days? Well... she's doing great. With her son's business doing well, she seems less stressed. She meets up with friends and enjoys herself. She even goes out to play golf."
"That's a relief. But aren't you seeing anyone?"
"I'd need the time for that. Don't even get me started. People at the company already said they want to introduce me to someone? I took one look at the photo and refused outright."
"Hahaha!"
The friends burst into laughter, but Jacob continued as if aggrieved.
"I have a definite type too. She wasn't my type. Anyway, I'm going to get married soon. At least before I turn thirty."
Then, Armando asked me.
"What about your mother? With your father not around, isn't it hard on her?"
"Not at all. She likes it better."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she says she likes it better without a troublesome person around. Father is busy with the business he wanted to do, traveling between Korea, Japan, and America, so he seems younger too."
The exchanges between us were exceedingly trivial. We knew each other so well that even trifling talk felt natural. Sienna, who had been watching this with fascination, asked me,
"But there's something I'm curious about..."
"Hmm?"
"From what I heard, Armando, Chloe, and Jacob all signed business partnership contracts with you? Vinegar, farming, soju—that you taught them everything..."
"That's right."
"Even though you receive a portion of the profits, didn't you feel it was a waste?"
"Hey, things only last if we all do well together. What fun is it if I'm the only one living comfortably? Whether I have a million dollars or ten million dollars in my account, it doesn't make a huge difference in the life I lead. If I scramble to get more than that, I feel like I'd end up with no one by my side."
"I see..."
Sienna nodded and looked at me and Armando as if seeing us anew. Indeed, if one had accumulated and lived with her level of wealth, it would be more natural to view everyone as competition and try to monopolize profits.
As the clock raced toward midnight and everyone became thoroughly drunk, the atmosphere turned a bit more sentimental. Chloe leaned against my shoulder and asked quietly,
"Brian, what if... what if I hadn't met you in high school? What would I have become? You'd probably still be doing great, right?"
"Hmm... maybe?"
"Tch...!"
"But one thing's for sure—without you, it would have been much more boring and lonely."
Chloe smiled bashfully at those words.
I looked up at the stars in the night sky. I couldn't tell anyone about my turbulent fate, having returned from death, but the sincerity of this moment was clear.
"Back then, I thought meeting all of you was my good fortune. Farming was enjoyable too, but talking with all of you and being together was just as joyous. Without those times, even if I were successful now, I would have felt empty."
Chloe wrapped her arms around mine and said,
"I'm glad you appeared before me. If you hadn't, I probably wouldn't have become a proper adult by now. I'd still be worrying about how much allowance I get from my father, wouldn't I? Ugh... that would be awful."
Jacob, the hulking giant, also set aside his usual playfulness and muttered in a languid voice.
"Sometimes I'm scared. That all this wealth I've built is just a dream. Every time Soju House's sales rise, I wonder if I really deserve this money."
"You've already proven you deserve it, Jacob. Everyone who's tasted the Ruby Quartz you made knows. They know how valuable the brandy you created is."
At my words of comfort, Jacob sniffled as if embarrassed.
Before long, the sound of bells marking midnight drifted from a distant church. The last second of 2009 passed, and the first air of 2010 enveloped the terrace.
"Now, it's 2010! Happy New Year!"
Everyone stood and embraced one another, sharing blessings. Armando kissed Sienna, and Jacob hugged me and Armando like a bear, as if trying to lift us both at once.
After sharing a long kiss with Chloe, I filled my glass once more. It was now 2010. Though the sensation of Ether still pervaded the wine world, I had to take on another challenge. Because if you rest on your laurels, you cannot advance.
"Everyone, you've all worked hard. Let's meet again next year at a higher place. Whether what we make is wine, vinegar, or soju..."
At my declaration, five glasses clinked together once more. In the deep night of Napa Valley, the passion radiating from five young titans pierced the winter fog and shone more brilliantly than the stars.
The next day.
"...Ah, please. Someone stop playing the drums inside my head."
The hulking Jacob groaned and twisted on the sofa. The sofa screamed under the bulk of his frame exceeding 190cm, but it was my own head that truly wanted to scream. Last night, the feast of 'Ether' and 'Astra Veil' that had crowned the end of 2009 was ecstatic, but the hangover that came in exchange was brutal. It felt as though each individual brain cell had been pickled in alcohol and was shrieking in agony.
'We shouldn't have mixed it with fruit soju...!'
This was all the result of Chloe and Sienna sipping the fruit soju Jacob had brought because it was delicious, and then all of us drinking it together.
My mouth was so parched it felt like chewing sand, and even opening my eyes was a torment. I barely managed to raise myself and started toward the kitchen, then froze.
The sound coming from outside the window was no ordinary one.
Kwaaaaah-!
The sound of rain beating as if to shatter the windows. It was not the romantic patter of winter rain. It was an overwhelming noise, like a massive waterfall pouring onto the roof. I instinctively pulled back the curtain.
"Oh, shit..."
In an instant, my hangover vanished and the hair on my nape stood on end. There was no exhilarating morning of January 1st, 2010. Outside the window, everything was trapped in a pitch-dark gray veil, and the sky was pouring down an enormous amount of water as though it had sprung a leak. The yard's drains had already backed up, forming a small lake.
"Brian... what's going on?"
Chloe came out to the living room, tidying her disheveled hair. Following behind, Armando and Sienna also stiffened at the sight outside the window. By now, they were farmers to the bone. They couldn't fail to know what a downpour of this intensity meant.
"Damn it, everyone get ready to go out! Hurry!"
At my shout, their faces paled.
"Sienna, your farm will be fine. It's flat land, so you just need to worry about drainage. But Armando!"
I gripped Armando's shoulder tightly; he had been standing there in a daze.
"Your place at Laguna Creek is on a slope! With this amount of rainfall, the upper slope soil could come sliding down. Get there right now! Hurry!"
At my roar, Armando snapped back to his senses. Without even putting on his shoes properly, he dashed out the front door.
"Brian! I'll contact you later!"
"I'm going with you!"
Sienna roughly threw on her clothes and ran after the departing Armando. The moment I confirmed Armando's pickup truck had roughly disappeared through the curtain of rain, I turned to Chloe.
"Chloe, you go to the warehouse and bring out all the sandbags and straw wattles! Jacob! Pull yourself together and grab a shovel! If the upper drainage channel for Astra Veil gets blocked, our old vine section will all be washed away!"
"Got it!"
From this moment, there was no such thing as our farm or someone else's farm. It was a friend's farm, and a crisis had struck, so the two of them didn't harbor a single doubt. Jacob staggered—perhaps from his hangover—but still ran to the warehouse, and Chloe was already heading to the outdoor workshop through the rain.
I too pulled on my rubber boots and dashed outside. The cold rain battered my entire body, making my head feel like it would split open, but that wasn't the issue right now. First, I ran to the office and called Warren.
"It's dangerous right now, so don't come in today."
"What do you mean? That's exactly why I need to come out."
"No. I'm saying it's dangerous! Please listen to me this time!"
"Just this once, please rest at home. Understood?"
"Alright."
"I trust you. And trust me."
Warren was a stubborn old man, but perhaps reading the desperation in my voice, he eventually acquiesced. My fingertips trembled slightly as I ended the call. I couldn't tell if it was from the headache caused by my hangover or from the instinctive fear of a human standing before the wrath of the earth.
I roughly pushed back my wet hair and dashed out into the yard where the rain was pouring down like a waterfall. Already, more than ten veteran workers who had arrived early after receiving the emergency call were looking up at the sky with bewildered expressions under the eaves of the warehouse. Muddy water was already swirling and rising around their rubber boots.
"Everyone, listen up!"
At my shout, gazes that had been buried in the sound of the rain snapped toward me in unison. I pointed with my finger at Redwood's steepest northern slope.
"If that upper drainage channel bursts now, the old vines we've tended with blood and sweat all year long will disappear without a trace! Today's wages will be tripled, and if we overcome this crisis, I'll pay every single one of you a special bonus. We need to split into teams right now and clear all the leaves and rocks from every drainage channel!"
Life returned to the workers' eyes. It wasn't simply because of the money; the desperation of the young owner who always treated them with personal dignity had awakened their farmer's pride.
"Jose, you take the western drainage channel! The rest of you, follow me to the upper section! Jacob and Chloe will supply the sandbags, so all of you focus solely on securing the drainage channels!"
As if they had made a promise, the workers gripped their shovels and scattered into the rain. Watching their retreating figures, I drew in a rough breath. The sky was still black as though ink had been spilled, and the clouds hung low, swallowing the mountain ridges.