It was a morning in late November 2005, four days before the release of Cerasia.
The aging room of Redwood Winery was unusually busy. The footsteps of the staff hurrying about in preparation for bottling never ceased, and a faint cherry fragrance drifted through the air.
In one corner, on a temporary conference table beside the fermentation room, a large set of design blueprints had been spread out.
“You said you currently have a total of fourteen stainless steel fermentation tanks, correct?”
A man of sturdy build asked, leaning over the table.
With the sleeves of his dark navy shirt rolled up, he was Mark Spencer, a facilities engineer. A graduate of UC Davis, he was a man rich in field experience—so much so that people said most of the mid-sized wineries in Napa Valley had passed through his hands.
“Yes. Ten 5,000-liter tanks, and four 10,000-liter tanks.”
When Brian answered, Mark unfolded the blueprint and made a mark with his pen.
“That’s unusual. For the size of your farm, your winery equipment is already on the larger side, and you’re expanding it even further?”
“We do a bit of everything. Cabernet, Pinot Noir, and also… cherries.”
“Ah, I see. In that case, additional expansion would be necessary. From what I’ve seen, your aging tank setup is no ordinary thing. The new equipment will be coming in along the same lines, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Then the tanks you’re adding are…?”
“This time, four 5,000-liter tanks, and four 10,000-liter tanks.”
In truth, we didn’t necessarily have to expand right away. If we found ourselves short, there was no reason we couldn’t age the wine through a custom crush facility. The problem was that wine made that way would not be wine produced under the optimal conditions I pursued.
That was why, whenever money came in, I kept trying to expand the winery’s facilities. Besides, this time, an enormous amount of money had flowed in, leaving the winery flush with funds—and we still had one more shot remaining.
That was Cerasia 2005, made from 100 tons of cherries, with 80,000 bottles—6,600 cases—piling up in the warehouse.
If all of it sold, it would bring in over 1.4 million dollars, and even after giving thirty percent of that to Mr. Frederick, close to one million dollars would remain.
In a situation like this, if we didn’t expand the winery, where else would we spend the money?
“Sixty thousand liters…”
Mark nodded and pointed with the tip of his pen to an empty space on the blueprint.
“This side can be secured for the new line. The problem is power. With the existing electrical panel, it’ll be difficult to run everything at once. You’ll also need to pull a new cooling line.”
I looked closely at the complicated piping and tank lines tangled together on the paper.
“How much would it cost to expand the cooling line?”
“Roughly 150,000 dollars. If you include replacing the power supply equipment, you should set aside 200,000.”
“Hmm…”
Mark traced his finger over the blueprint and shifted his gaze toward the aging warehouse.
“You’ll need to expand the aging room too, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
Mark got up from his seat and took out a laser distance meter. After measuring the wall of the aging room, he showed me his laptop screen and said,
“This area is currently about 2,600 square feet. If we expand it by 400, you’ll be able to store up to 300 additional barrels. If we design the racking system in three tiers, even with this height, you can fit up to 1,000 barrels.”
“What about insulation? The indoor temperature rises quite a bit in summer.”
“We can use double polyurethane insulation and a constant-temperature control system. I’ll design it so it stays within plus or minus 1.5 degrees. It’ll be far more stable than what you have now.”
“Good. If we include eight tanks, the cooling line, power equipment, and the aging warehouse expansion, how much would the total come to?”
Mark tapped at his calculator and answered.
“I’d say around 900,000 dollars. You should also keep about ten percent extra as contingency funds. Four months from design to construction. By next March, the new line should be operational.”
“Good. As soon as the Cerasia launch is over, let’s begin construction. It has to be completed before next year’s Pinot Noir harvest.”
“That’s a good call.”
Mark smiled. Then he soon looked at me, tilted his head slightly, and said,
“I understand you’re still a student… I’ve heard the rumors about Aeshlon and Sylphid. It’s impressive. It makes me wonder just how much further Redwood will grow.”
“Haha, thank you. I just got lucky.”
After the meeting ended, the two of us walked slowly through the aging room. Along one wall, the Cerasia bottling line was turning steadily. The red, cherry-colored wine filled the bottles, gleaming quietly.
“When is this being released?”
“This Friday.”
“May I smell it?”
“Of course.”
Mark picked up one bottle and brought it to his nose.
“Cherry wine… It’s refreshing, but strangely elegant. I thought it would be sweet, but it’s actually dry.”
“I made it in a direction closer to red grape wine. I want it to establish itself as a table wine, not a dessert wine.”
“Oh, I see. It’s because you have this kind of sense that you were able to create Aeshlon and Sylphid too. If I get the chance later, I’d like to try a bottle myself.”
He stared at me, emitting a powerful gaze full of desire.
“Yes, I’ll set aside a bottle for you.”
“Hahaha! My goodness, thank you. I was already planning to do my best, but now I’ll make sure to deliver results beyond my abilities. It’ll run stably for at least ten years without you having to worry about maintenance. And by then, Redwood will be standing at the center of Napa Valley.”
“I hope so.”
I was curious too. About just how much things would change ten years from now.
---
Early December, Union Square, San Francisco.
Red ribbons and golden ornaments hung across the glass front of the Macy’s department store. The year-end atmosphere, the kind that made one feel inexplicably excited, had already settled over the city, and the faces of the people entering the department store were filled with happiness.
The central hall of the gourmet zone on the first floor—this was today’s stage.
A large banner hanging above caught my eye.
Cerasia 2005 Official Launch
Cerasia was neatly arranged on a table covered in red cherry-colored cloth. Each wine bottle bore a red label that shimmered softly.
Below it stood a golden sign bearing the words, “Holiday Special 10% Off – Today Only.”
A host holding a glass walked out from among the crowd. A middle-aged man dressed in a suit took the microphone at center stage and spoke in a bright voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Today, in celebration of Holiday Gourmet Week at Macy’s, we are introducing a new wine that California is proud to present. A cherry wine created together by Redwood Winery of Napa Valley and Brentwood Cherry Farm! Cerasia 2005!”
The department store customers who had been passing by and watching absentmindedly broke into applause in mild surprise. Under the lights, the bottles glittered, and the table where Cerasia sat among red cherry decorations looked like a Christmas decoration in itself.
“Customers who purchase Cerasia 2005 today will receive a special packaging set along with two exclusive glasses for the Holiday Gift Set. Quantities are limited!”
And behind the event, slightly away from the crowd, I was watching together with Uncle Frederick and Chloe.
“I didn’t think people would be this interested in cherry wine.”
Knowing that people weren’t interested because they all understood Cerasia well, I replied lightly.
“Rather than that, I think Macy’s has taken a favorable view of Cerasia. Mr. John Anderson seems pretty capable too. It looks like they planned the event targeting people who want to enjoy the year-end atmosphere with cherry wine, and since it’s the holiday season, people definitely seem to be looking at it favorably.”
Chloe nodded as she watched the tasting booth, where customers holding glasses stood in line.
“Dad, look over there. The number of people keeps increasing.”
Just as she said, people were lining up one after another in front of the tasting booth, and purplish wine was being poured into the small paper cups they held.
“Mm—this is cherry wine?”
“Wow, the aroma is soft and fresh. It’s not sweet.”
“It’s almost like Pinot Noir.”
The Macy’s wine buyer, who had been talking with Mr. John Anderson at the next table, approached me.
“The response is good. I expected as much, but the purchase rate compared to tastings isn’t bad.”
I wondered what he meant, but when I looked at the people moving over to the table beside the tasting booth to buy wine and pay for it, I understood.
“It seems people’s perception of cherry wine isn’t bad.”
“That’s part of it, but I think it’s also because the image Cerasia built up last year wasn’t bad. The story of people being unable to buy it last year because there wasn’t enough stock is famous too. In particular, there are quite a few stories about restaurants going around to distributors trying to get their hands on Cerasia.”
“Is that why you signed an exclusive contract with Mr. John Anderson this time?”
“That’s right. We had been paying attention to Cerasia’s uniqueness.”
Surprisingly, John Anderson had selected Macy’s department store as the sole retail partner and signed a temporary exclusive sales channel contract through March 2006. The plan was that any stock not sold out by next March would be freely distributed afterward.
That didn’t mean Macy’s had raised the price above last year’s distribution price either. There was simply the condition that if people wanted to buy Cerasia, they had to buy it at Macy’s.
The person who benefited most from this was Mr. John Anderson. In exchange, he would take a slightly smaller margin than before, but by supplying the department store, he gained brand value and could reduce the costs he would have had to spend traveling around California.
“Speaking of which… you have Aeshlon, don’t you?”
He asked subtly, eyes sparkling.
“I understand that Mr. John Anderson distributes Aeshlon as well. Wouldn’t it be better for you to partner with us instead?”
“An exclusive distribution deal with Macy’s?”
“Yes. I understand that this year’s Aeshlon has already disappeared from the market. I’ve even heard that the general president of this department store was disappointed because he couldn’t get Aeshlon. The people who recognized Aeshlon’s value early on bought it up in bulk, and those who found out later are furious.”
“Haha… Is that so?”
“There probably won’t be much volume this year either, will there?”
“I’m thinking around 3,500 cases.”
“Ah—3,500 cases… That makes it even more tempting. The volume isn’t large, but it isn’t too small either, so it would help with sales…”
“I plan to raise the wholesale price considerably. To 840 dollars per case.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but soon he nodded.
“Ah… I see. Since you received Double Gold, that’s perfectly understandable. It would be 70 dollars per bottle, so we could think of the retail price as around 130 dollars. That’s even better.”
“I’ll think it over, so please consider it and contact me.”
“Of course, I’ll have to report it to the higher-ups, but it will probably be approved. As far as I know, Sylphid is impossible… so I think it would be good if we could at least bring in Aeshlon.”
At his urgent proposal, I shrugged.
“Understood. I’ll think about it.”
“Hahaha, I sincerely hope you’ll make a favorable decision.”
After he left, I noticed that wine boxes and signed receipts had piled up at the event venue before I knew it. The staff moved about frantically, packing boxes and guiding customers through card payments.
“Shall we go get something to eat?”
“Let’s.”
Since we couldn’t stay there forever, we were about to slip away when Chloe suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me along.
“It’ll be winter soon. You’ve helped our farm a lot, so I’ll buy you a gift.”
“Huh? What do you mean…?”
Before I could answer, Chloe entered a rather expensive brand store and began choosing various coats. I was about to say it was fine, but Mr. Frederick shook his head and gestured for me to just accept it, so I had no choice but to become a mannequin and stand still.
“This one is nice, don’t you think?”
What she had chosen was a camel-toned trench coat that fell below the knees. When I put it on and looked in the mirror, even I thought it suited me quite well.
“It looks good on you.”
Frederick, who had been watching, gave me a thumbs-up.
“Thank you.”
“This much is nothing. You’ve done so much for our farm.”
For some reason, the way she emphasized the farm felt slightly awkward. As we left the store, I happened to see a shop selling red cashmere mufflers beside the Cerasia display.
Unable to simply receive a gift without giving one in return, I said,
“Wait a moment.”
I went into the store, bought a muffler, and handed it to her.
“This is my gift. You worked hard managing the farm.”
Seeing her grin broadly at my gift, Frederick said,
“You’re supposed to put a muffler around her neck for her.”
This old man’s intentions were so obvious that when I glared at him, he quietly turned his head away. But when I saw Chloe looking full of expectation, I couldn’t bring myself to ignore her, so I wrapped the muffler around her neck.
“It suits you.”
“Really?”
Chloe looked at her reflection in a mirror inside the department store, wearing the muffler, and smiled brightly.