After putting on a show of confidence before Brian, Elowen entered the event hall and smiled at the sight of her daughter, dressed especially beautifully today.
“You don’t even look nervous anymore.”
Her daughter, clad in a black dress, shrugged. A small brooch engraved with the winery’s logo gleamed quietly above her collarbone.
“I’ve been judged by celebrity judges on Wine Masters before. What’s there to be nervous about?”
She said that, but Elaina’s gaze darted about nonstop whenever Hollywood’s top stars came into view. Still, what had definitely changed was that, even so, she held her place with a composed expression and a dignified air.
To Elowen, though her daughter was still young, it seemed remarkable that she did not get excited and rush toward the celebrities when she had come representing the winery. Especially in a situation like today, where they unexpectedly had to face a powerful opponent, that attitude was all the more necessary.
“I met Brian from Redwood earlier.”
Elaina’s expression immediately hardened.
“You did? About there being one more main wine...?”
“That’s right. He said it’s called Sylphid.”
No matter how much one tried not to pay attention, there were hardly any wineries that didn’t know Redwood had received two Double Golds last year. Aeschlon and Sylphid. They were wines that had given people reason to chatter that another outstanding winery had been born in Napa Valley.
“Hmph!”
She snorted. If it had been before she went on Wine Masters, she likely would have been quite intimidated, but now she was different.
“Most of the people here probably haven’t even heard the names Aeschlon or Sylphid, you know?”
“That’s true.”
Wine was a drink with such a wide variety of products on the market that unless someone truly liked wine, it was hard for them to know which wines were good or which wines suited them.
So even if a wine had received Double Gold and was hot in the wine world, if one didn’t usually enjoy wine, it was only natural that they would have trouble recognizing it as good.
“To those people, I’m the celebrity.”
She puffed out her chest and squared her shoulders, and Elowen was proud of that daughter of hers. This was all thanks to the image she had built by going on Wine Masters.
After she appeared on Wine Masters, the wines they had made and left piled up in storage sold out all at once, resolving the accumulated deficit in one stroke. And that wasn’t all.
As her face became fairly well known through Wine Masters, she would occasionally receive calls from TV programs or be invited to parties held by celebrities and large corporations.
One TV show had changed her life. That was why she could now stand proudly before Brian of Redwood.
“Of course, of course... Naturally. Oh! It’s starting.”
A pin spotlight illuminated one spot. Then, following the light, George Clooney’s tuxedo gave off a subtle sheen beneath the illumination as he crossed the carpet and headed for the stage.
Smiling, George Clooney took the microphone. His first words came with that signature smile of his.
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is a night when we relearn the word human. And to be honest, as far as I know, it’s also the best-dressed night of the year.”
Laughter and applause burst from the audience. In the front row, Brad Pitt smiled with his arms crossed, while Angelina Jolie, holding a glass, was speaking with someone.
George continued.
“These wonderful wines we’re drinking tonight—Revival Cabernet, filled with passion from Napa Valley, and the beautiful Pinot Noir, Sylphid—are themselves symbols of labor, passion, and cooperation. The true protagonists of tonight, the staff and crews who have supported the film industry, are the same. Without their fingertips, there would be no films, no stages, and no night like this.”
In the back, Sting was tuning his guitar, and the aroma of wine, half-filled in everyone’s glasses, slowly filled the air.
“Now, allow me to introduce the person who will give tonight’s first speech. The heart of California, the legend of action films, and the most muscular governor I know... Arnold Schwarzenegger!”
Cheers erupted from the audience. As the lights turned toward the right side of the stage, Arnold waved with a smile.
Wearing a perfectly fitted white shirt and black tuxedo, he walked to the center of the stage. Standing before the microphone, he delivered his first words in his distinctive, thick German accent.
“Thank you, George... Thanks to you, I sound like the Terminator of politics.”
The audience roared with laughter. He let the laughter subside for a moment, then raised his glass. Inside it, the ruby-colored Sylphid trembled slightly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we stand together in the city of cinema for the people who turn dreams into reality. The hands behind the camera, the shadows behind the set, all those people holding the lights—their names are the real stars of this night.”
Applause broke out. Then he continued in a slightly more serious tone.
“This industry is made from human sweat. Just like the wine we drink. As grapes are picked by hand, waited for, and aged, films are made the same way. Without patience and passion, neither can exist.”
After a moment, he lifted his wineglass high.
Flashes burst again.
“So let us dedicate this glass to them, to the staff of us all. To the people behind the lights. Cheers!”
Glasses clinked all at once, the clear sound of glass ringing through the event hall. Then George Clooney stepped back up to the microphone with a smile.
“Very good, Governor. Now the Terminator should return to his seat. Tonight, we’ll be back.”
Another round of laughter broke out, followed by applause. Then, with music from the guest performer Sting, the event began in earnest.
At the frontmost table sat George Clooney, who had served as the opening host, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, known as an affectionate couple, and Leonardo DiCaprio, one of Hollywood’s representative stars.
With stars of that caliber present, even Elaina, who had gained popularity on Wine Masters, approached with a nervous face, filled their glasses with wine, and said,
“Silveroak Winery’s Revival Cabernet 2004 is sponsoring today’s event. I hope it suits your palate.”
Since it was a charity event, all the wines supplied here were provided free of charge by the wineries. But with the exposure they would receive through various magazines and broadcasts, the promotional effect was more than worth it.
Recognizing her, George Clooney responded smoothly.
“Oh, Elaina. I saw you on Wine Masters. It was a shame—you could have made it a little higher. I was rooting for you.”
“Oh my, thank you.”
“Could you tell us about Revival Cabernet 2004?”
It was a question that suggested he had tasted quite a lot of wine.
“As you would know if you watched the TV show, our Silveroak grew through the great hardship of a wildfire. Perhaps because of that, our Revival Cabernet 2004 has the firmest voice fruit can offer, with toasted notes like charred soot, a structure of dark red plum and blackcurrant, and oak spice. You could call Revival a Cabernet that holds the memory of fire. It wasn’t burned—it was tempered.”
As if accustomed to such explanations, he nodded, buried the tip of his nose in the glass, and wore a satisfied expression.
“The aroma is amazing. But it isn’t too heavy, either.”
“You’ve described exactly the point we aim for.”
Elaina replaced the glass and wiped the neck of the bottle. Her movements were light; she felt as though everything today would go smoothly.
At that moment, DiCaprio, who had been sipping the wine, asked,
“Is this organic, by any chance?”
For an instant, she flinched and put on an awkward smile. Organic, of all things, was connected to the most fatal incident for Silveroak.
Leonardo DiCaprio was highly interested in environmental activism and climate change campaigns, so he must have asked in that sense, but the question happened to stab at a particularly painful spot in her heart.
“That’s...”
“Ah, I understand.”
Thinking he had asked an unnecessarily difficult question, Leo waved his hand as if to say she didn’t need to mind it.
At that moment, someone suddenly stepped forward. Christopher was not the sort of person to simply stand by and watch the most important seat, where all these top stars had gathered, pass him by.
“Good evening. I would like to introduce one more wine to you today. It is the wine that the muscular governor over there is holding onto as if it were his prized possession.”
Everyone turned their heads and looked toward Arnold Schwarzenegger. As he laughed heartily and drank his wine, his face seemed to radiate a warm breeze like spring wind.
As the top stars turned back again, Christopher proudly introduced the young Asian man standing behind him.
“This is Brian Choi of Redwood Winery, the finest new winery in Napa Valley. He produced not one, but two wines that received Double Gold at an awards ceremony deciding the best wines. To put it simply, you could think of it as two films being nominated for the Oscars in the same year.”
The top stars, who had at first looked at him as though he were just a salesperson, soon showed surprise on their faces.
“Oh, really? In that case, I’m curious.”
Perhaps because he liked wine, George Clooney was the first to hold out a new glass. Even before my regression, I had never had much interest in celebrities, and that remained true now. So, with an impassive expression, I opened the Sylphid with practiced ease and poured it into his glass.
Sylphid’s red liquid flowed slowly into the glass. Bathed in light, the wine was clearer than ruby, and the scent of cherries and raspberries brushed by the wind slowly filled the space.
“Could we hear an explanation of the wine?”
Once again, at George’s question, I answered with a faint smile.
“It is a wine made from Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. It’s the finest Pinot Noir-producing region in America. In the Russian River Valley, thick fog always settles in at dawn. That fog delays the sunlight, strengthening the grape skins and allowing the aromas to ripen slowly. You could say it creates the optimal conditions for Pinot Noir.”
As people nodded, I sensed the smiling face of Elaina beside me twitch very slightly. She was likely forcing herself to maintain her expression, but I did not pay much attention to it.
George Clooney smiled and brought the glass to the tip of his nose.
“It certainly... feels completely different from the previous wine. Is there anything more you can add?”
“Pinot Noir is a wine even beginners can enjoy lightly. If I explain in advance how you might perceive it, it may actually make the wine harder to enjoy. I think it’s enough to drink it comfortably and fully enjoy what you feel.”
“Oh, I see.”
At my words, George and the other stars each took a sip of the wine, and from a distance, magazine reporters captured the scene, clicking their camera shutters. Sylphid, held in my hand right now, must have been photographed as well, so I found this situation extremely awkward, but I endured it as best I could.
“Wow... To think it would feel like this...”
Having experienced many wines, George expressed his admiration and looked at the wine once more with a dramatic expression, while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie wore satisfied smiles, apparently pleased with it.
Then Leo asked again.
“Uh... I don’t mean to be rude, but is this made organically?”
At the gaze that flicked briefly toward Elaina, I could infer that such a question had been asked earlier as well. Feeling inwardly sorry for Elaina, I said,
“We applied for organic certification two years ago and are under the management of the NOP, the National Organic Program, within the USDA. If there are no problems until then, we will receive organic certification.”
Leo smiled brightly at my answer.
“Perfect. Have you always been interested in organic products?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that no treatments should ever be used, but I do believe that farming methods as close to nature as possible are beneficial to humans.”
“That completely matches my thinking. I thought grape farms didn’t do organic farming.”
As he said that, he glanced briefly at Elaina beside me, then turned his gaze back to me and said,
“I don’t know much about wine normally, but I really like the wine I drank today. The name is wonderful too—Sylphid. If I get the chance, I’ll try to obtain it from time to time and drink it. Ah, is it possible to get the wine now? I mean, apart from the donated wine provided here.”
Before I could turn my head to Christopher, the answer had already come.
“Of course. However, I would also like to let you know that there exists a Sylphid of an even higher level of quality than the one you just tasted.”
“Really?”
George immediately showed interest.
“A limited-edition Sylphid, signed personally by the winemaker and made only from the finest barrels, will be put up for auction. It may be somewhat more expensive than the standard Sylphid, but...”
“I’ll have to get it at once.”
“Where is that auction?”
George and Brad Pitt both showed interest. As everyone focused only on the story of Sylphid, at some point Elaina was left standing alone, blankly, as though she had been ostracized.
Though she had not been drinking, Elaina’s face turned red, and at some point, unable to endure the indifference toward her, she quietly slipped away to another table.
And from behind came an indifferent voice.
“Personally, I thought it was much better than the one before.”
Leo’s praise directed at Brian lodged itself sharply in her heart.