After encouraging them to clear the drainage channels, I returned to the office, checked the additional people who had come in to work, and confirmed that Leo still wasn’t there. I called him at once, and his rough voice came through.
“Boss... I can’t... see in front of me...”
Leo, who drove to work, hadn’t arrived yet because the downpour had forced him into crawling along at a snail’s pace. I thought that was actually for the best.
“Good. Then don’t come to Redwood. Turn the car around and go to Ironwood!”
“What? Turn around? But I really can’t see the road...”
“If you can’t see the road, then punch through it with sheer will! All of Napa is one step away from being underwater. I’m holding Redwood. I’ll check Redwood and Silver Oak, so you need to go to Ironwood and Lapis Lazuli. Their drainage structures are weak, so they could be in danger. Get in the pickup truck and make a round right now! Check whether power to the drainage pumps has been cut, and if anything’s clogged, dig it out with your bare hands if you have to!”
Ironwood, located on the steep slopes of the western Napa Valley mountains; Lapis Lazuli, on the western slopes of Coombsville and Oak Knoll; and, above all, the Castello estate in To Kalon, called Napa’s sacred ground... There were too many places to protect.
“Leo, listen carefully. Ironwood Section B has weak ground. You need to stack the straw bales there in two layers.”
“Understood.”
“And as you know, Coombsville, where Lapis Lazuli is, is basin terrain. The streams coming down from the western slope gather at the basin floor, so if the drainage isn’t perfect, a huge pool can form in an instant.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Checking the drainage channels is important, but if you’re monitoring the creek overflow and the water level rises, open Gate Two and divert it! Can you do that?”
“...Yes! I’ll try!”
After hanging up, I immediately dialed another number. It was Marcus, the estate’s chief winemaker. Marcus, who had yet to receive a dismissal notice, had apparently lost a lot of weight lately from wondering when he might be fired, but in truth, I had no particular intention of dismissing him.
I couldn’t stay at Castello forever, and it was more convenient to have Marcus, who knew the place well, manage the estate. Of course, after confirming how much the 2009 vintage had aged, I might change the farming methods, but even then, it would be easier to let Marcus manage it.
“Marcus! How is it there?”
Fortunately, he seemed to be at work, and his strained voice came through.
“Yes, boss. It’s not good! The water level at the southern levee of Castello is rising rapidly. If the levee bursts at this rate, creek water could rush into the old vine block!”
“How much time do you think we have?”
“If the rain keeps pouring like this... I can’t say for sure, but maybe four or five hours? It may be difficult to hold out any longer than that.”
It was a serious situation, but there was still time. If Castello of To Kalon, of all places, were swept away by torrential rain and mud, the amount of damage would be impossible to calculate.
“Understood, Marcus. Don’t panic. Open the drainage shutters and drain as much water as you can.”
“Understood! I’ll do that.”
“As soon as I get the situation at Redwood and Silver Oak sorted out, I’ll head over.”
The same went for Redwood, but Silver Oak’s slopes also touched the foot of the mountains, so we had to be careful of soil runoff.
After sending workers to Silver Oak and ordering them to clear the drainage channels, I went outside and inspected the estate. Fortunately, perhaps because not much time had passed since the downpour began, the drainage cleaning proceeded without much difficulty. If we had delayed even a little longer, we might have suffered major damage.
I caught Mr. Thomas, who managed the workers, and said,
“As long as you keep the drainage channels under control, there shouldn’t be major damage here. So please manage the channels carefully and make sure no mud or debris is coming down from the mountainside.”
“Yes, yes, understood.”
California is a place where wildfires occur with truly ridiculous frequency. So when rain pours down like this, it’s bound to be dangerous because there are no trees left to hold back the soil. On top of that, Napa Valley’s terrain itself is a canyon enclosed on both sides by the Mayacamas Mountains and the Vaca Mountains.
As a result, the vineyards for high-end wine built on the mountain slopes are steeply inclined, leaving them directly exposed to this danger.
This kind of torrential rain is nothing short of a major disaster for vineyards. If the topsoil is lost because the drainage channels aren’t properly managed, the surface soil, where the grapevines’ nutrients are concentrated, gets washed away. That means the destruction of the “terroir” that has been cultivated over decades.
Also, if the drainage channels coming down from the mountain are blocked by branches and mud, the water creates a new river cutting straight through the middle of the vineyard. When that happens, young vines are uprooted, and old vines that have endured for decades and produced the finest grapes lose their support and begin to lean. In other words, the vines suffer serious damage.
In the worst-case scenario, if the only road into the winery collapses, the estate becomes isolated. If the power goes out and the pumps stop working, the winery’s temperature control becomes impossible, which could deal a fatal blow to the quality of the wine.
“Make sure you check the electricity!”
After giving the cellar staff one final, repeated warning, I took Chloe and Jacob and headed to Silver Oak.
Fortunately, at Silver Oak, the drainage channels had already been well maintained by experienced workers, so the water hadn’t overflowed. Even so, I put on boots and ran around frantically, searching everywhere in case there was a problem. By the time I headed to the Castello estate, about two hours had passed since I had spoken to Marcus.
Highway 29 from Silver Oak to Castello was incredibly treacherous. The rain poured down as if it would pierce through the windshield, and the wipers were useless. Chloe, sitting in the passenger seat, gripped the handle tightly with a pale face.
“Brian, be careful! There’s a fallen tree over there!”
I turned the wheel and narrowly avoided the fallen oak. Muddy water splashed up to the height of the car body. A drive that would normally have taken ten minutes took thirty after a life-or-death struggle. When we arrived at the entrance to Castello, the scene before us was horrific.
The ditch at the lower end of the vineyard was already full, and yellow water was lapping at the bases of the vine supports. If it overflowed just a little more, the carefully tended soil would be washed away and the roots of the vines exposed. Marcus and the workers were desperately stacking sandbags atop the levee in the pouring rain.
“Marcus!”
As soon as I got out of the car, I plunged into the mud. Ice-cold water rushed into my boots, but I couldn’t even feel it.
“Boss, you’re here!”
Marcus shouted as he repeatedly wiped his glasses, which were a mess from the rain. His voice was swallowed by the roar of the downpour and trembled faintly.
“What about the shutters! Did you open the drainage shutters?”
At my question, Marcus shook his head with a despairing expression and pointed to the huge steel structure at the lower part of the vineyard.
“They won’t open! The latch is completely jammed because of the water pressure! Four grown men tried pushing it with crowbars, but it won’t budge!”
The situation was more serious than I had thought. With the creek water level risen to just below the top of the levee and the drainage shutters out of order, the vineyard was on the verge of becoming a massive reservoir.
The Castello estate in To Kalon had some of the most fertile and delicate alluvial soil in Napa Valley. Losing the topsoil here would be like losing golden land shaped by hundreds of years of time.
“Jacob! Come here!”
I called Jacob, who had followed me. The huge man, a hundred ninety centimeters tall, already had his shirt soaked through by the rain, revealing the contours of his muscles.
“Jacob, brace that shutter assembly with your shoulder! Marcus and I will widen the gap with this iron crowbar, so when I give the signal, we push all at once. Got it?”
“Got it. I’m ready!”
Jacob drove his shoulder into the cold metal shutter. Marcus and I wedged the bent crowbar deep into the gap.
“One, two, three!”
“Uaaaaaah!”
Jacob’s roar rang out through the sound of the rain. Thick veins bulged in his neck, and my palms grew hot from the friction against the scrap metal as I pressed down on the crowbar.
Creeeak! With a chilling metallic screech, the shutter that had been stuck fast opened a mere five centimeters.
“Now! Push!”
The trapped water began gushing through the gap with terrifying force. As the pressure concentrated in one place and dispersed, the shutter finally screamed and shot upward.
Kwaaaaaa—!
Once the massive blocked waterway opened, the yellow water threatening the bases of the vines began to drain out in a whirlpool. The moment we confirmed that the lapping water level was visibly falling, Marcus sank to his knees and let out a sigh of relief.
But I couldn’t stop. I took the radio from Chloe and shouted.
“Leo! Do you hear me? We’ve made it past the crisis here. How’s Ironwood?”
Ordinary radios can only communicate within line of sight, so in mountainous Napa Valley they cut out quickly, but large wineries and corporations install or rent repeaters on mountaintops, making radio communication possible from the north of Napa Valley all the way down to Coombsville in the south.
Crackle! After a burst of rough static, Leo’s urgent voice came through.
“Boss! The levee at Ironwood Section B collapsed! Mud is coming in! We’re blocking it with the workers and straw bales, but it’s not enough!”
“What? Leo, listen carefully. Don’t try to block it no matter what. There’s an auxiliary drainage gate next to Section B, right? Open it completely! Then the flow will go toward the ravine instead of the vineyard. Even if we have to sacrifice a few vines, we need to protect the ground as a whole!”
“But boss, the saplings there...!”
“Saplings can be planted again! But if the land washes away, it’s over! Do as I say!”
Leo’s brief reply came from beyond the radio. I put the radio away and looked at Chloe standing beside me. She was already carrying sandbags with the workers, reinforcing the weak points of the levee.
“Chloe, let’s go! Mr. Marcus, don’t let your guard down. While the water level is low, you need to remove all the clumps of mud built up inside the drainage channel. Otherwise, it’ll clog again!”
“Understood, boss! I’ll handle it personally!”
I took my friends again and drove down Highway 29 toward Lapis Lazuli. Coombsville’s basin terrain might have turned into a giant swamp by now. The rain still showed no sign of letting up, and the car swayed from side to side in the fierce wind.
When we arrived at Lapis Lazuli, Leo was already covered head to toe in mud, standing guard beside the drainage pump.
“Boss! We opened the auxiliary gate! We stopped the mud from entering the center of the vineyard!”
Leo shouted as he ran over. His face was a mess with liquid that might have been rainwater or tears, but his eyes were alive. I gripped his shoulder firmly.
“Well done, Leo. Truly well done.”
After that, we spent several more hours fighting desperately all across Napa.
“Isn’t this New Year’s greeting a little too rough?”
The beginning of 2010 really wasn’t easy, enough for Jacob to grumble as he looked up at the sky.
Well past lunchtime, around the time hunger made my hands and feet tremble, the rain miraculously began to thin. As faint sunlight shone through the clouds, Napa Valley revealed itself like a wounded warrior. Trees were broken here and there, and deep water channels had been carved through the vineyards, but the old vines of our core estates stood firm.
Covered in mud, Chloe and I collapsed onto the living room floor and burst into laughter as we looked at each other’s ruined appearances.
“Hehehe...”
“Hahaha...”
Jacob spoke as if he couldn’t understand what on earth was funny.
“I don’t get it. How can you laugh right now? Mother! I’m hungry!”
“All right, I have it ready. Hurry up and wash.”
At the sight of the hot meal Mom had prepared, Chloe and I stopped laughing and got back to our feet.
“I have no strength in my hands or feet.”
I forced Chloe, who was drooping, to stand and took her to the bathroom in my room, somehow getting her inside. Since I couldn’t lie down on the bed with my body in such a mess, I leaned against the wall and rested.
My eyelids gradually grew heavy, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. And so the first day of the new year passed.