As they left the wine judging hall, Chloe wore an expression that said she simply couldn’t understand.
“You really know how to tease people.”
“Me?”
“Who else? Didn’t you see how bad that third-year senior’s face looked earlier? You said something like that after tasting his wine before, too.”
“I was saying it for his sake. You don’t get it. It’s not easy to get advice from me, you know.”
At my embarrassingly confident words, Chloe’s mouth fell open.
“...You really are incredibly confident, aren’t you?”
“But it’s true...”
“Well, I guess I have gotten a lot of help from you too.”
Chloe might not understand, but from my perspective, there was something slightly unfair about it. Do you know how much hardship I went through to gain this level of knowledge...? If some kid barely in his twenties tried to stand on equal footing with me, wouldn’t all that suffering feel far too empty?
In particular, what I had told the professor during the blind tasting this time was knowledge I had gained through a study I’d won from USDA-NIFA, a research support agency under the Department of Agriculture—[Phenolic Maturity Kinetics in Pinot Noir].
So if someone tried to become like me without even drinking a thousand bottles of wine, of course I would feel wronged. The fact that I said a thousand bottles instead of ten thousand was actually me being considerate of Matthew’s background.
“Are you done?”
Mom and Dad had not only gone to the grape-stomping event, but had also bought who knew what, because both their hands were full.
“What’s all that?”
“Your father said he was going to study wine and bought a ridiculous amount. Your mom’s going to break her back making snacks for a while.”
“Oh dear...”
It was unfortunate, but as winery owners, it also wouldn’t do to refuse to drink alcohol just because it was bad for the body. Whether he was using that as an excuse or not, Dad, with both hands full of heavy bottles of wine, couldn’t stop smiling.
“There were a lot of good wines.”
Of course there were. The best wineries in North America were concentrated in Sonoma and Napa. It would be stranger if the wines weren’t good.
“We bought one for Chloe too. It seemed like a pretty good wine. Take it to your father.”
It seemed Mom had bought one to give to Chloe. When she placed the paper bag with the wine into Chloe’s hands, Chloe broke into a broad smile.
“Thank you. My dad will love it.”
“Good. Let’s go eat something delicious.”
And so our family and Chloe enjoyed delicious steak and wine being sold at the festival. Dad regretted that he couldn’t taste any because he had to drive, but since he had loaded the car with more than a dozen bottles of wine, he seemed to be barely holding himself back.
---
A few days later, Dad and I met with a vineyard broker famous in Napa Valley. Until now, we had only discussed the details of the transaction over the phone, and today was finally the day we would sign the contract.
“I guarantee you, you won’t get another opportunity to buy an AVA in Napa Valley at a cheaper price than this. Since you’ve already operated a farm before, you know this, but if you struggle through just a few years, it will bring you a great profit.”
The broker made it sound very easy, but those “few years” meant at least five, and once that time came, there was always the possibility of natural disasters, pests, or disease striking again. It wasn’t something just anyone could recklessly jump into. Because he knew that, he was making this final push.
“Here’s the pre-approval letter.”
When Dad handed over the documents he had received from the bank, the broker smiled in satisfaction and said,
“Good. Still, just in case, the contract will include a financing contingency. If the loan doesn’t come through, the contract becomes void.”
“Of course.”
“Good.”
At that moment, the door opened with a jingle, and a very familiar face appeared. Elowen Pike. Dad and I had naturally assumed we would be meeting him, but when he stepped into the brokerage office and saw our faces, he looked flustered.
He slowly walked in, looked us over, then spoke to the broker in a somewhat sharp tone.
“These are the people buying my land?”
“That’s right. Is there a problem?”
“...”
Would he really overturn the whole deal and walk out here? As expected, faced with the enormous sum of 1.1 million dollars, he hesitated, then soon sat down. Of course, with his arms crossed and his defensive mode fully activated.
“Hmph! You think this is an opportunity, so you’re trying to snap it up quickly? Don’t tell me you think fire-damaged land and a bit of powdery mildew are about the same.”
Dad was not shaken in the slightest by his sarcasm.
“We’re prepared to struggle for about five years.”
“Do as you like. It’s none of my concern.”
Most of the farmers growing grapes on this land had acquired their land at prices cheaper than they were now. Elowen was the same, so even though he was selling it far below market price, he seemed to feel a bit of satisfaction at the thought of immediately getting 1.1 million dollars in his hands.
After all, 1.1 million dollars would be enough to settle all the debts tormenting him right now and still leave a substantial amount.
“Haha, then shall we go over the contract?”
At the broker’s words, Dad, Elowen, and I carefully read through the densely packed contract clause by clause. Since we had already had Pierce Morgan review the contract and related details, there was nothing problematic.
After we quickly finished signing the contract, Elowen said to us with a stiff expression,
“I’ll be clearly marking the boundary line, so I hope there won’t be any mistakes in the future.”
Until now, he had merely been a neighbor some distance away, but now he had become a neighbor directly adjacent to us along the farm boundary. Personally, I didn’t want him to see the various soil improvements we were implementing for no reason, so his guarded attitude was actually welcome.
“We won’t ever cross the boundary, so you don’t need to worry.”
At my answer, one corner of his mouth rose.
“I hope so. Then do your best, if you can.”
He shook hands with Dad, sneered at us slightly, and left. But from that arrogant demeanor, I could sense just how much his insides must be burning. It was obvious he was putting on airs on purpose to hide how upset he was.
“Don’t worry about it too much. We just need to do well.”
Perhaps thinking I was upset at being looked down on, Dad comforted me.
“Of course. I’m not bothered at all.”
Afterward, we took the contract to the bank and proceeded with the loan, and they said it would take nearly a month for the actual funds to come through. During that time, Elowen showed his meticulousness by putting up a wooden fence along the boundary where the fire-damaged area was.
Meanwhile, worried that rain might wash the soil away, I brought workers and had them cover that vast land with straw, coconet mats, and the like so that the rain wouldn’t strike the soil directly.
A month later, the funds finally came through. I could clearly picture Elowen’s face, pleased after receiving 1.1 million dollars, and we returned home with trembling hands after taking out that massive loan.
I was confident we would succeed, but borrowing not 110,000 dollars but 1.1 million dollars still made my heart pound like crazy. Before my regression, I hadn’t been such a bold person. But once I actually saw the land with my own eyes—land that had once been part of the old Silver Oak farm and was now devastated by wildfire—my excitement grew greater than my fear.
Now that I could work on it to my heart’s content, I scattered the mountain of biochar compound fertilizer I had prepared in advance across the devastated land in large quantities, then got ready to plant rye and barley.
“You’re not clearing it right away?”
“We’ll turn over the soil in spring. If we plant these in the meantime, their roots will hold the soil and help prevent erosion. And later, when spring comes and we plow them under, they’ll become natural fertilizer that supplies the soil with organic matter and nitrogen.”
At my explanation, Dad and Armando nodded.
“Then we need to plant them quickly?”
“That’s right. The loan came through late, so we don’t have much time. It’s a relief there hasn’t been much rain; if there had been a lot, we’d have been in trouble. Let’s move fast.”
After planting the rye and barley like that, it was already mid-November. I had been preoccupied with organizing the newly acquired farm site, but I went to visit Mr. Pierce Morgan.
“Our farm is ready.”
As if he had been waiting for me, he smiled when I arrived.
“You say you’re ready as soon as you get here. What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on. I asked you before, remember? The cherry wine tasting. If it’s difficult, that’s fine. I can contact people myself.”
When I put on a droopy, disappointed expression, he stood up from his seat.
“Haha, I know you’re acting.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
“Rather than saying I noticed, I did ask around through someone I know. But are you sure you’ll be okay? The people gathering will be fairly reputable restaurant owners in California. You need to know that if you make one mistake, they’ll never view wine from Redwood Winery favorably again.”
“I know that well. And I’m prepared for it.”
“Are you? Then all right. If you set the date, I’ll tell them.”
“Thank you. In return, I’ll give you one bottle of wine whenever we release a batch from the winery, Mr. Pierce.”
“I appreciate that.”
After setting the tasting for November 25, I began calling high-end restaurants in Napa and Santa Rosa to promote the tasting. Some of them had probably already been contacted by Sienna’s father, but I didn’t care about overlap. I had no idea how many people Sienna’s father would gather, and simply trusting that and waiting would be too great a risk.
And would he really introduce the truly important restaurant owners to another winery? That couldn’t be called the mindset of an ordinary businessman. Mr. Pierce wasn’t a businessman, so he might connect us with good intentions, but there was no way to know whether Sienna’s father felt the same way.
“You’re going to the Redwood tasting? Why there?”
When Matthew heard that Sienna was going to the Redwood Winery tasting, he came to find her. She was about to explain, but it seemed like it would become too complicated, so she answered briefly.
“It just ended up that way. And when it comes to wine, I think they might be worth acknowledging.”
“...Do whatever you want. If a good winery appears, that’s good for Napa too.”
Matthew, who had been glaring at her with cold eyes, smiled as if nothing had happened and disappeared. Shaking her head, she went to the Principles of Viticulture class and handed a note from her father to the Asian boy who was still hard to believe was only a first-year student.
“The restaurants written there will participate. Either the owners or the managers may come.”
When I checked the note, just as I had feared, there were exactly three restaurant names written on it. And they weren’t extremely famous places either, but restaurants with an ambiguous price range. In truth, this made sense. Who was I for Sienna’s father, the owner of Hammington, to promote me so enthusiastically? I would be lucky if he didn’t interfere.
Mr. Pierce Morgan must have asked a major farm owner he knew well to help me, but the result wasn’t very good. Since I had asked Mr. Pierce for help and the result was poor, I even felt sorry toward Mr. Pierce, wondering if I had asked for nothing.
But I didn’t show Sienna the slightest hint of disappointment. Instead, I smiled.
“Oh—thank you.”
No, more precisely, it was true that I wasn’t all that disappointed. I had been preparing for something like this.
“And Dad and I will be going too. I’m curious what kind of wine it is.”
“I’d love to let you taste as much as you want, but unfortunately, we don’t have enough. Ah, you’ll be able to taste the Pinot Noir too, so try comparing them.”
Since Sienna’s father had made only enough of an excuse to participate by sending three middling restaurants, it was clear he wanted to confirm what level Redwood Winery was at. In that case...
“Hammington Winery’s main wine is Pinot Noir, isn’t it? It’ll be fun to compare.”
I intended to give Sienna’s father exactly what he wanted.