Robert Mondavi lifted the glass and held it to the light for a moment. Even with his clouded eyes, his habit of reading the color remained. Very slowly, he brought the glass close to the tip of his nose. As he drew in a long breath, his wrinkled face contorted subtly. Then he closed his eyes.
After a moment, he opened his lips.
“A student, you say?”
“Yes.”
“You made this wine?”
“That’s right.”
“Why isn’t the label properly affixed?”
“Because it still needs more time. I think it needs about three more months.”
Nodding, he drank the rest of the wine again. After holding it in his mouth for a long while and savoring the wine’s aroma to the very end, he looked me straight in the eye. His gaze was sharp, as if he intended to dig through everything inside my head. But I met that gaze calmly.
“The blending is unusual. It’s somewhat different from what I’ve tasted up to now.”
“You may very well feel that way.”
At that strange answer, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened even further. And in the end, he let out a low exclamation of admiration.
“Astonishing. Though it is still an unfinished wine, I can see the shadow of completion in it. It is already shaping for itself the edges that time ought to wear down. Redwood Winery, was it?”
“That’s right.”
“It will become a great rival to our family.”
Everyone was unable to hide their shock at Robert Mondavi’s final words. Mark, who had been watching from the side, also wore an expression of disbelief before soon nodding.
“So this was what you dragged me over here to show me?”
“Wasn’t it a good experience? And it’s still an unfinished wine. You shouldn’t overrate it too much.”
“For now, yes. But what can I do when I can see its future?”
Robert Mondavi and Department Head Thomas turned away again, conversing quietly as they moved off into the distance. And once the two people they respected so deeply disappeared, the others thrust out their glasses as if refusing to be left behind.
“Please give me a glass too!”
“You know I was the third one here, right?”
I hurriedly raised my hand and calmed the people down.
“Slowly, please. And I don’t have much wine with me, so I can’t give you a lot.”
But the words that I didn’t have much wine only made the people even more excited, and I was out of my mind pouring wine for them. Mark, who had been watching this scene, turned to take Sienna back to his own booth. But then,
“Mark!”
Mark turned and met the eyes of Joseph Haggins, the owner of Castello.
“You tasted that just now, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“What was it like for old Robert to praise it that highly?”
Joseph Haggins was a man who openly wished for his own Haggins family to one day surpass the Mondavi family. Mark knew that all too well, and in truth, since he himself was not without such feelings, he did not think Joseph’s ambition was a bad thing.
“Hmm... how should I put it... It felt like when I first tasted Opus One.”
Opus One, the Cabernet Sauvignon-based blended wine created as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and France’s Baron Philippe de Rothschild, had been a wine so extraordinary that it was regarded as legendary from the very beginning.
“That much?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying it’s perfect to that degree. It still lacks time, so there are clearly parts that haven’t been refined. But the balance was unimaginable for something that came out in just six months, the weight that Cabernet Sauvignon ought to possess was considerable, and above all, the blending that gave it that complexity and depth was...”
“Hmm...”
“I don’t know how far this wine’s potential goes. Because they awakened the flavor early, it may fail to show its utmost potential. What it is now may be its limit. But in less than a year, they’ve melted in six or seven years’ worth of time from a decent wine.”
“You mean its floor is extremely high?”
“That’s right.”
Even after hearing Mark’s explanation, Joseph Haggins still wore an expression of disbelief. In particular, the fact that Mark’s face was still stiff was fascinating in itself.
“Honestly, I can’t believe that’s real. I can’t even understand bringing out a wine without a proper label at a place like this, but that wine was enough to surprise you and that old man Robert Mondavi? And a twenty-year-old freshman made it? Do you remember what you and I were doing when we were twenty?”
“......”
“I don’t know about you, but I was stealing wine and having the time of my life with women. That was a phase, so you mustn’t do that.”
“I won’t.”
After warning Matthew, who had been standing quietly, Joseph continued.
“First of all, it makes no sense that a twenty-year-old freshman made that. How much wine could he have tasted at that age? He probably brought a wine that was soon to be released and deliberately removed the label. Or else they delayed the release date to promote it impressively on a day like today.”
“That’s not impossible.”
“And that wine. I guarantee it, they got lucky. A Miracle Vintage must have come out, like the 2003 Château Phélan Ségur.”
When a wine that usually does not receive good evaluations produces an unrivaled taste in a particular year, the wine from that year is called a “Miracle Vintage.”
“I don’t think so. Because I’ve tasted the Pinot Noir made by that winery, together with Sienna. Of course, I think there’s a possibility that kid’s father made it. But the important thing is that it came from that winery.”
At Mark’s reply, his face completely stiff as he held his daughter’s shoulder, Joseph’s face, which had been utterly disbelieving, also turned grave.
“Is that so? Was it like this then too?”
“Similar. Today is more shocking, though... But what’s important is us. The Castello Aurora Blend you presented today was excellent. Truly.”
“......”
“I have to get back to my booth, so I’ll be going...”
Joseph could not bring himself to ask the departing Mark which of the two had been better. Even if he had asked, he likely would not have received a proper answer, but more than that, he was worried that perhaps a negative answer might come back.
Watching Mark’s back as he moved away, Joseph asked his son Matthew,
“Do you know anything about that kid? You went over and talked to him earlier.”
In truth, if there was anyone whose face was stiffer than Joseph’s, it was his son Matthew. From the moment Robert Mondavi appeared on the scene, he had been so shocked he could barely breathe.
“Well... He’s a freshman, but he is a bit unusual.”
“How?”
Under his father’s sharp gaze, Matthew struggled to recall old memories.
“At the first orientation, he tasted Sienna’s wine once and immediately said the fermentation temperature had been set wrong...”
At the unbelievable story, Joseph immediately pointed it out.
“What did you say? He pointed out a temperature issue after a single tasting?”
“What? Ah, yes... He did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? No, wait. That wine... does Sienna still have it, by any chance? If it was made at school, there should be some left.”
“No. At the time, after orientation ended, we drank it little by little over the course of a month...”
It made no sense for students not to touch alcohol when it was openly present at school.
“Damn it... And what else?”
“He tied with me for first place in the grape category for the Harvest Fair wine.”
“That was that place? Your foolish stunt turned out to be useful after all.”
At the time, Joseph had scolded his son Matthew harshly for doing something unnecessary. It was a contest participated in by small grape farms, and going there to show off his grapes as good ones was like an adult boasting of his strength in front of children—unsightly, he had said.
Joseph watched the young Asian man waving his hands, saying there was no more wine, and regretted that his pride had kept him from going over to confirm the taste for himself.
Meanwhile, Mark and Sienna, who had returned to the Harrington Vineyards booth, still wore stiff expressions even as they looked at the crowds surging in.
“Was it that shocking? Even more than the Pinot Noir we tasted back then?”
Mark led his daughter behind the booth to avoid the crowds, then spoke calmly with a slightly softened face.
“It’s different from back then. At the time, it felt as if they had obtained the finest grapes from a good vineyard and worked some magic we didn’t know about.”
“And now it’s different?”
“It is. Pinot Noir naturally takes less time to complete than Cabernet Sauvignon, and the characteristics of the single vineyard were distinct. But this time... it involved mature blending technique.”
“Ah...”
Thinking his daughter, who nodded as if she understood, had not fully grasped it, Mark explained more deeply.
“Listen carefully. If a single-vineyard wine fully captures the individuality of the vineyard, then a blended wine combines the strengths of several vineyards, allowing the winemaker to realize the perfect taste he intends. Its scalability becomes enormous. And the winemaker’s name value rises as well, so the level of the brand itself can be said to go up.”
“That’s incredible.”
“That’s right. The problem is that it’s hard to believe a twenty-year-old young Asian man is doing that.”
He recalled how he had once tried to have a distributor pre-purchase the Pinot Noir and failed, and concluded that he had been far too complacent. Even if it meant taking a bit more of a loss, he should have secured Redwood’s Pinot Noir somehow.
“Still, don’t be too disappointed, Dad. Right now, all of America is in an uproar because of Pinot Noir.”
Most of the people crowding toward the booth were those who had watched the film Sideways and been drawn in by the charm of Pinot Noir. Even the current students were flocking more toward Pinot Noir than toward other wineries, so that said it all.
“Sienna, Dad isn’t disappointed. To be precise, I feel uneasy. Whether that Asian kid did it or his father did it, they took Pinot Noir they don’t even grow and are enjoying this good timing as they grow. I’m watching a competitor grow.”
Back then, after tasting a Pinot Noir at Redwood Winery that was only a few months old, he had been in and out of the UC Davis laboratory constantly to find out how they had awakened the flavor. Unfortunately, however, nothing had come out that could clearly be called the answer. He had only obtained a few hints, and even those were uncertain.
“I can’t believe Dad feels uneasy because of someone who’s only twenty.”
“Don’t worry. Dad will find a way. Occasionally, out-of-spec geniuses do appear in this world. I never imagined that one of them could be a winemaker... but I suppose I’ll have to accept it.”
Her father was calm, yet had not lost hope for the future. Watching him worry about the future and resolve himself to something even in the midst of such a successful showcase, Sienna felt an indescribable emotion begin to surge inside her chest.
---
“Aaaaagh! An event like that happened while I was gone? I should’ve just stayed here!”
When the wine had run out and I was wondering whether I should just go home, Armando returned. Somehow having heard about the incident that had just occurred, he let out a scream and writhed in agony.
“I didn’t know something like that would happen either.”
“What did Robert Mondavi say? Tell me every single word, right now.”
“It was nothing much. Just that it was better than he expected.”
“Was that really all? He said it that dryly?”
“I told you so. What, did you think he might have recited a poem in front of me?”
“Well, that would be a bit much, wouldn’t it?”
“Exactly, too much.”
I put the empty wine bottles into a box, tidied up the table, and was about to leave when someone blocked my path right in front of me.
“Student Brian?”
When I lifted my head, a female student who was about half a head taller than me was looking down at me. Her overwhelming presence was something else... If I hadn’t already grown used to Jacob, my shoulders might have shrunk back on their own.
“Yes?”
“The department head is looking for you. Shall we go together?”
“Yes...”
And so, like people being dragged off by the police, we followed her to the department office.
“Professor, I’ve brought Brian.”
“Send him in.”
When I opened the door and entered the department head’s office, to my surprise, Robert Mondavi was sitting inside beside Department Head Thomas. Armando, who had followed me in carrying the box, widened his eyes and jabbed me in the side with his elbow, and I could feel just how excited he was.
“You called for me?”
“Yes, have a seat. Is he your friend?”
“Yes, this is Armando, an agricultural science major. For reference, he loves grapes and wine second only to me.”
“A fine attitude. In that case, sit with us.”
Armando sat down beside me with a broad, sheepish grin. Paying him no mind, I asked the department head,
“What did you call me here for...?”
“You heard about it before, didn’t you? About asking you through Sienna to take charge of one course at the Winkler Dinner.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“Will you be serving the wine you presented today?”
I firmly shook my head.
“No. I think it would be inappropriate to serve a wine that has not been officially released with a course meal.”
At the showcase event, I had participated as more or less an extra, but the Winkler Dinner was clearly an occasion where food and alcohol were served to people who paid money to enjoy the dinner. I could not sell an unfinished wine for money.
“That’s a shame. I was curious about the pairing.”
“Haha, I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to release it before autumn passes.”
“I’ll be the first to buy it.”
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. In truth, I’m not the one with something to say. It’s this gentleman here.”
Department Head Thomas pointed to Robert Mondavi, who was sitting beside him. When I turned my head to look at him, he was gazing at me with great curiosity, like a child who had discovered an amusing toy.