After Department Head Thomas disappeared, a strange atmosphere settled over the lecture hall. The students split into two groups: one crowded around Elaina, showing fervent interest, while the other came over to me and bombarded me with all sorts of questions. When class began, things seemed to quiet down a little, but once the lecture ended, the students refused to stay still again.
“Who taught you about wine?”
“Who’s going to be the host?”
“When does filming start?”
At the students’ attention, Elaina lifted her chin slightly and answered each question kindly. These were students who had never shown any interest in her before, but now that she was going on a TV show and becoming famous, it seemed as though all the self-esteem she had kept suppressed was bursting out at once.
I didn’t think it was bad that she was enjoying the attention. Everyone wants to be loved and wants to receive attention; they just can’t say it openly. When an opportunity like this comes along, anyone would be as happy as she was.
Of course, plenty of people flocked to me as well. But what surprised me a little was that among the people who approached me was Sienna from Harrington Winery.
As she came toward me, the students parted on either side like the sea splitting, and all eyes turned to Sienna. The sight reminded me so much of Chloe back in high school that I laughed inwardly. Back then, Chloe had been practically like a delinquent queen bee.
“You really don’t feel disappointed at all?”
“Do you honestly think I’d be disappointed that I can’t go on that show?”
“A winery’s reputation can determine the price of its wine. If your reputation rises, you can make a lot of money… a very great deal of money, you know?”
“Our wine is already recognized without doing something like that.”
Before I could even finish speaking, Armando cut in, having somehow come to my classroom during break.
“How many wineries get two Double Golds at the same time? I bet Harrington’s never experienced that either.”
For a moment, Sienna’s brow furrowed slightly.
“I was just asking because I was curious. Why are you being so sharp?”
“Huh? I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry. I just wondered if Harrington Winery might be jealous of Redwood… And for the record, I like beautiful women. So please don’t misunderstand.”
At the utterly random flirting, Sienna looked dumbfounded.
“What is that supposed to—”
“Don’t mind him. Why did you suddenly come over?”
I waved a hand at her and asked Armando.
“I wanted to share in this fun too! I’m a winery owner now as well!”
“Ah… right.”
Just then, Sienna cut in.
“Enough. Focus on me.”
“……”
“……”
Since she told us to focus, Armando and I focused on her. Feeling awkward, Sienna shifted her gaze slightly and spoke haughtily.
“A major event has come up that could bring honor to the school. So the department is planning to hold an event centered around students who own wineries. It’ll be a sale where each winery offers its flagship wines at a low price. It’s a project to promote the products of student wineries and donate part of the proceeds to scholarships, so I’d like everyone to participate.”
“Uh… it does sound like a good event, but we don’t have any wine left over.”
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if it was a good event.
For a large winery like Harrington, with plenty of wine still piled up in the warehouse, it would be better to hold a discount event and clear out inventory. But for a small winery like ours, with little stock to spare, participating would put us at a disadvantage.
“You don’t have any?”
“No. Both Aeshlon and Sylphid are completely sold out.”
As Sienna hesitated, wondering what to say, Armando suddenly cut in with a greasy voice.
“What kind of style do you like?”
“……”
Sienna suddenly looked stunned, and…
“You crazy bastard…”
The curse slipped out before I knew it, and I turned my head, doing my best to ignore the situation. But Armando was undaunted.
“Sorry if you have a boyfriend. You’re just so pretty… it slipped out without me realizing.”
Armando’s greasy gaze was beyond description.
Sienna, utterly at a loss for words, simply spun around, grabbed both her cheeks, and disappeared. At the unimaginable turn of events, the students around us stared at Armando as if he were insane, but the guy just shrugged and said as if bragging,
“I did good, right? I drove her away, didn’t I?”
“…So you did that on purpose to drive her away?”
“Of course.”
“Wow… I can’t measure the depths of your thought process. Weren’t you dating that reporter before?”
After our interview with Blender magazine, what was even more unbelievable than the rise in sales of Jacob’s ‘The One’ was that Armando had started dating the reporter who had covered us at the time. Ever since then, whether because he had gained confidence, Armando’s expression and behavior had become completely unrestrained.
“We broke up a while ago. So what I just did is morally flawless.”
“Why did you break up?”
“The distance was too far. From LA to here is just too far. I was fine with it, but Miriam had a hard time. She’s a good woman, but it couldn’t be helped.”
“……Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”
“You haven’t dated yet, have you? It’s not all good, you know. It’s nice when you’re together, but there are a lot of inconvenient things too…”
“……I genuinely feel queasy.”
“I understand your envy of me, but you have your own strengths. Namely, your knowledge of farming and wine. I respect you. I mean that.”
It was praise directed at me, but it truly made my stomach churn.
“Let’s just eat.”
Even if it was the tasteless American-style campus cafeteria, I felt like I needed to eat there today.
“No can do. I came all the way here to enjoy this commemorative event.”
“……”
In the end, to commemorate the victory at the thirtieth-anniversary reenactment tasting of the Judgment of Paris, Armando decided to put out not wine, but one hundred cases of vinegar. Of course, even with a discount, the price was still higher than wholesale, so it wasn’t a loss. In fact, since it bypassed distribution, it was more profitable.
After the winery applied to enter vinegar instead of wine for the commemorative event, we met Chloe and Jacob at the cafeteria.
“Why are you so late?”
At Chloe’s curt words as she waited for us, Armando snorted.
“Hmph! If you knew what happened behind the scenes, you’d be thanking me.”
“Why would I?”
“I drove that Harrington she-cat away from Brian’s side.”
Chloe, who had been standing crookedly with her arms crossed, stared at me and Armando, then said,
“Okay. Lunch is on me.”
“Gooood. See, Brian? There’s a reason for everything I do.”
I said with all my sincerity,
“I lose. I can’t beat you.”
I had to soothe my unsettled stomach with the consolation of getting a free, tasteless lunch with my friends.
---
Three days after Armando’s shocking destruction of Sienna’s mental state, a massive Volvo VNL 53ft reefer trailer slowly turned into the entrance of Laird Family Winery.
By now, even twenty tons of cherries unloading from a truck like this didn’t feel all that burdensome.
“These are all from Brentwood, right?”
The driver handed over the documents and said,
“That’s right. Cherries from Brentwood Harris Farm. Today’s delivery is twenty tons, and it’ll continue like this for ten days.”
“Confirmed.”
They could have all arrived at once, but there was the process of handling the cherries and putting them into stainless-steel aging tanks, so we had decided to receive twenty tons a day.
Cold air flowing out from the truck brushed across my face, spreading the scent of cherries. Employees who had been waiting by the warehouse drove over with forklifts and began unloading the pallets one row at a time.
“Brian!”
Alexis, the winemaking manager of Laird Winery, waved. Up to now, Alexis had given me quite a lot of help in making Sylphid. Naturally, he didn’t know the specific yeast or temperatures used to make Sylphid, but he had managed things well when I wasn’t around, which was why so many barrels of Sylphid had been able to maintain a consistent quality.
“That’s really a lot this time. Seems like more than when the Pinot Noir came in?”
“It’s two hundred tons. This time, we’re making two types of cherry wine. The existing Ceracia, and a Reserve. That said, you don’t need to worry about it from the start. We can proceed the same way until the first racking to remove sediment.”
“Until the first racking… so we keep the process the same until before it goes into the stainless tanks?”
“That’s right.”
“Two hundred tons means… roughly 120,000 to 140,000 liters… That’s a huge increase compared to the Pinot Noir. Isn’t it burdensome?”
“It’s fine.”
“Right, I heard Sylphid sold incredibly well. I suppose you can afford this much.”
When the quantity increases, it takes up a lot of stainless-steel tank capacity, and above all, if we use oak barrels, barrel rental fees are added on. At least we were keeping it under six months, which was a relief, I suppose.
“Of course.”
“Then, like before, you’ll handle the enzymes yourself?”
“That’s right.”
“Haa, I’m curious. What on earth are you using that you’re hiding it so thoroughly?”
“Hahaha. Please just think of it as a secret technique every winery has.”
“I know, so I’m keeping quiet. Otherwise, I’d have gotten down on my knees to beg you to tell me. I managed to get Aeshlon early on and tried it… It was incredible. You won’t tell me the blending ratio for that either, will you?”
“Hehe… Instead, I’ll tell you the varieties that went into it.”
“Ooh—really?”
“Over 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest is Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Malbec.”
“Haha, thanks.”
Honestly, the grape varieties used weren’t exactly a huge secret. What mattered was the condition of the main Cabernet Sauvignon and the other varietal wines being blended in, as well as the blending itself, where those elements were finely adjusted to draw out the flavor.
“The first stainless batch will be emptied around the end of this year. To be exact, from mid to late November. After that, we’ll move it into used oak barrels. Ones that are two or three years old.”
“Not new oak barrels? A new batch of barrels is coming in this September.”
“No. If you use new oak barrels for cherry wine, the flavor dies.”
“How long will you use them?”
“At least four months, and up to six months. We need to keep the temperature at sixteen degrees so the aroma doesn’t become too sweet.”
Alexis nodded as he took notes.
“That sounds trickier than grapes.”
“Cherries have high sugar levels, and their acidity isn’t consistent. In particular, since the tannin content in the skins is low, we need to extend the macération time a little. About thirty-six hours.”
We immediately moved the harvested cherries to the sorting line. Each time the cherries rolled along the conveyor belt, their distinctive sweet aroma burst into the air.
Occasionally, crimson juice flowed from fruits that had split open, and the scent was even more intense than grapes.
Alexis pointed toward the stainless-steel tanks.
“Since there’s so much… I emptied ten 10,000-liter tanks, and I’ll see about preparing a few more 5,000-liter ones. What about the sugar level?”
“Brix 22. It’ll probably come out even higher than that. We’ll aim for an expected alcohol content of about 13%.”
“Can cherries reach that?”
“The Bing cherries we brought in from Brentwood Harris Farm have high sugar levels.”
“Oh, really? Got it. Let’s do it that way.”
After finishing work at Laird Family Winery and returning to Redwood when it had grown dark, I was surprised to find a guest in the office. And the guest’s identity was even more surprising.
“Oh, it’s been a while!”
It was Elowen Pike of Silver Oak Farm.
“Hello, sir.”
“Right, I remember seeing you a few times when you were cultivating that new land.”
“But what brings you here…?”
My eyes met Dad’s, and when I saw his wry smile, I realized Elowen had come to make an unreasonable request. Sure enough,
“It’s like this. You know the land I sold you before? I was wondering if I could buy it back.”
“Excuse me?”
“Of course, I’d be buying the land back, and since you’ve put work into it all this time, I’ll add another two hundred thousand dollars. How about selling it back to me for 1.3 million?”
I firmly waved my hand.
“Absolutely not. We will never sell. Do you know how much effort we’ve put into reviving that land?”
“That’s why I’m adding as much as two hundred thousand dollars.”
“No. We’re fine.”
He frowned, then spoke as if he had no choice.
“Fine. Four hundred thousand. I’ll give you 1.5 million total. At that amount, you can consider yourselves to have made more than enough profit.”
It seemed that after Silver Oak had been named a notable newcomer at the Judgment of Paris reenactment tasting, drawing major attention, its wine sales had skyrocketed.
“We’re not selling. Even if you offered two million dollars.”
“Two million dollars? Ha, how absurd.”
He shrugged toward Dad and said,
“Your son is far too greedy. Very well. It can’t be helped. But this is clearly a good opportunity. If you change your mind later, please contact me anytime.”
Elowen smiled and left the winery.
“What the hell was that…”
As I stared after him in disbelief, Dad sighed and said,
“The truth is, Elowen wasn’t anything special.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“All day today, I’ve been getting calls asking if we had any intention of selling the farm. Apparently, land prices all around Napa Valley are rising right now.”
“Ah…”
Only then did I realize that Elowen hadn’t simply wanted to reclaim the land because his sales had increased. And the next day, I received a call from Christopher.
“Don’t be shocked. After the reenactment tasting, the price of Aeshlon on the secondary market has shot past three hundred dollars.”
“What? How did you…?”
“Sylphid had gone over two hundred dollars on the secondary market, so just in case, I looked up how much Aeshlon was going for. Napa Valley wines are surging overall right now. Haha, the value of American wine itself is rising!”
Christopher was shouting in excitement.