Chapter 41: Cerasia(1)
TL: Hanguk
The atmosphere of the tasting had heated up even more than when they drank the cherry wine. It was clearly an unfinished wine with lower quality than the cherry wine, but everyone was amazed at the balance that had been brought to a remarkable level in just three months, and they began to pay even more attention to Woody Choi, the owner of the winery.
"Are we witnessing the birth of Napa Valley's next star?"
Someone even muttered softly. And Mark, who heard those words right next to him, looked at the middle-aged Asian man holding a stainless decanter with a confused expression.
He couldn't understand how an Asian man who barely grew wine grapes could produce such results, but rather than denying reality, he chose to accept it.
The problem was that he hadn't yet figured out how to deal with the reality he had accepted.
“Hahahaha! Such aroma in just three months... Truly amazing. I’m the one who supplied the cherries for that Cherry wine, and isn’t it incredible? There was a reason I provided cherries here of all places.”
Frederick had been making such boastful remarks since earlier, and the restaurant owners sitting around him nodded their heads. The owner's skill was impressive enough to make even his absurd boasting seem acceptable.
Just as everyone was soaking in the emotion, the middle-aged Asian man spoke.
“I’ll say it again, but this still isn’t a finished wine. It only showed the direction of Redwood Winery. So I hope you won’t think it’s lacking.”
As soon as Woody Choi finished speaking, Rufus Fillmore, the owner of 'Le Jardin,' a French cuisine restaurant, waved his hand.
"I know there are lacking parts, but considering the timeframe of three months, no one here would be in a position to say such things."
At least the people sitting here could predict how a three-month-old wine would change after two years. That's why Mark was even more anxious.
‘How much would I have to offer to make him move? One million dollars? Two million dollars?’
Before his thought could finish,
"I'd like to place an additional order for the cherry wine. I'm planning to pair it with the entire year-end course, so could I get at least 40 cases (480 bottles)?"
The owner with the aged voice was Theodore Goodwin of Blaze Bistro. He had initially ordered 5 cases, but ordering 40 cases after tasting a completely different Pinot Noir meant he acknowledged the winery's skill and trusted the consistency of the cherry wine's quality.
As soon as he finished speaking, Roberto Rossi, the owner of an Italian restaurant called 'La Fiorentina,' raised his hand.
"I'll take 30 cases. The cherry wine gave me inspiration. If I make a signature menu with choice steak and cherry reduction sauce and pair it with the wine..."
"Nothing could be more perfect for Christmas."
Because everyone knew all too well about the limit of 8,000 bottles, they immediately preordered amounts far exceeding what they had ordered at the start, at least one to two months’ worth.
“Just a moment, I’ll write it down again.”
The Asian boy who was in the same major as Siena running around busily was starting to become somewhat irritating. When he thought about why he felt that way, he immediately understood. Right now they were taking orders for cherry wine, but he could imagine that soon they would be taking orders like that for Pinot Noir.
Then someone asked the Asian boy who was taking orders.
"So what does this farm originally produce as its main variety?"
“Cabernet Sauvignon.”
"Ah- is that so? Then...?"
"Yes. The grapes harvested this year are already in oak barrels. Since it's that particular variety, it's unfortunate that we can't show you a taste first like we did with the Pinot Noir."
“Ah... That’s a shame for me too. But it also makes me look forward to it.”
“You can definitely look forward to it, because at the Harvest Fair held in Sonoma this time, it tied for first place as a winemaking grape along with grapes from the To-Kalon area.”
At that, everyone was surprised again. Because among them, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know the value of Cabernet Sauvignon harvested in To-Kalon.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t see those grapes.”
"I know, right."
People clicked their tongues. A winery that maintains top-tier quality not only in winemaking techniques but also in cultivation techniques, and not just anywhere but in Napa Valley? It was clear that the name Redwood would be difficult to erase from the minds of the business owners dealing with wine who visited today.
“I’m glad I came today.”
Mark steeled his resolve while tasting the Pinot Noir that was only three months old again, and Siena watched her father with a complicated expression.
***
After the tasting ended, in the car on the way back home, Mark Harrington was driving while staring straight ahead with a serious expression.
When he came to Napa, he had arrived with half curiosity and half the intention of educating Siena. But on the way back home, he was so shocked that he couldn’t even make a light joke to his daughter and was sunk in silence. Feeling bothered by that, Siena glanced at Dad a few times and then asked.
“That Pinot Noir earlier... it was better than ours, wasn’t it?”
Mark hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly.
“Was it better than our wine? I’m not sure about that. But if you asked me whether I could get a Pinot Noir into that state in three months, I’d say it’s impossible.”
“Pinot Noir needs at least a year and a half to two years anyway. Then doesn’t that mean that two years later, it could end up worse than ours?”
“That could happen.”
Even as he said it could happen, Mark’s expression was set in a serious hard line.
“You mean there’s a high chance it won’t?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
Mark, having sorted out his thoughts for a moment, began to explain slowly.
“Right after fermentation, wine is often rough and unstable. No, not often, most of the time. Pinot Noir usually becomes marketable at the earliest after a year and a half, and typically after two years. You know that too, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why that is?”
"Um... that's..."
She knew it all, but when it came time to say it out loud, Siena found her mouth completely stuck. Mark nodded and explained kindly to his daughter.
“What are the three main factors used to evaluate wine?”
“Tannin, acidity, and aroma.”
“Right. Those two years gradually smooth out the rough tannins that freshly fermented wine has, and the sharp acidity blends with the fruit aromas to create balance. And the simple fruit aromas spend time in oak barrels, adding floral and herb notes, and later on they add complex aromas like earth, leather, and mushrooms.”
“I know.”
“But for the tannins and acid, fruit, and alcohol to already fit together well in just three months means a few things. First, that the quality of the raw material, the grapes, is outstanding.”
“If it’s Pinot Noir from Russian River Valley, that’s definitely possible.”
Harrington Vineyards, the Harrington family’s vineyard, wasn’t in Russian River Valley, but it was in the Carneros AVA, which was considered an environment comparable to it.
That was why they prided themselves on cultivating top-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that wouldn’t be outdone anywhere, but Russian River Valley was recognized worldwide, so neither father nor daughter dared to belittle the raw materials.
“Second, the winemaking process is extremely precise. And the third is similar, but it means there aren’t any unnecessary flaws like volatile acidity (Volatile Acidity, VA: acids in wine that evaporate) or sulfur off-flavors (Reduction, Sulfur Off-flavor: an odor that occurs when sulfur compounds form incorrectly during fermentation or storage). And if those three are in place, it means the foundational stamina for long-term aging has been set exceptionally well, and you can say the wine’s potential is limitless.”
“Ah...”
Siena now clearly understood why her father was so serious after tasting a wine that was only three months old.
“Apart from needing good raw materials, the other two are determined entirely by the winemaker’s skill... and that means that middle-aged Asian man is at least more skilled than I am.”
“More than you, Dad? No way.”
“There’s nothing impossible about it. Didn’t I tell you from the start, when I first came to Napa? If there’s a good winery, it’s only natural to pay a huge sum and bring in the technology. It doesn’t happen often, but it wasn’t unheard of either. Geniuses always appear in this world, and those people lead the world forward.”
Siena, accepting her father's lesson with a heavy face, suddenly turned her head with a question that came to mind.
“Then back at the winery, shouldn’t you have talked with that person, Woody Choi? You said we have to acquire the winery.”
Mark shook his head with a troubled expression.
“There were too many people. Imagine me offering money to buy the winery while things are chaotic because they’re busy seeing off the guests. He’d think, ‘How desperate does he have to be to pay money in a situation like this?’”
“Ah, no matter how much you offer, Mr. Woody Choi would be suspicious about the price?”
“That’s right. The correct answer is to shift the situation, ask for a private meeting with just the two of us, and explain calmly.”
“Okay.”
Nodding, Siena hoped that her father would appraise that winery well at a good price and buy it no matter what. If that happened, she figured she could learn a little more about wine from that Asian boy, who would then have a lot more breathing room.
***
The next day, Redwood Winery.
After going to school in the morning and attending classes, I brought not only Armando but also Chloe to the winery. Armando worked at our farm, so there was nothing special about it, but Chloe coming to the winery was purely to watch the bottling process of the Cherry wine.
I could have refused, but showing the bottling process wasn’t a big deal, and more than anything, the person who had put in the most work to make this label design was Chloe.
“When is the mail coming in?”
Dad asked the moment he saw me.
“It’ll probably arrive around tomorrow.”
“The U.S. is great and all, but sometimes there are things that are needlessly complicated.”
“Seriously. It can’t be helped. Still, a lot of money is coming in.”
This time, the confirmed advance payments for the Cherry wine amounted to over 20,000 dollars. That money was enough to be a much-needed rain in our tight finances. One problem was...
“That’s why I’m holding back.”
In Korea, they’d wire the payment straight into an account, but in the U.S. at this time, that wasn’t how deals were usually done. When the winery issued an invoice, the restaurant would issue a check and send it by mail. Then you’d go to the bank and deposit that check, and after two or three days, it would turn into usable funds.
It certainly was a structure that was more complicated and annoying than Korea.
“Brian! Are those bottles stacked outside the ones you made this time? They look so good!”
Armando came into the office after seeing the bottles stacked in box form near the automatic bottling machine.
“You’re doing it to look good in front of Chloe, aren’t you?”
"No?"
"Why to me?"
When Chloe poked her head in too, I waved both hands at them and shooed them out of the office, then came out with them.
“But it really was pretty good.”
“Hehe, I don’t know about other things, but I do have an aesthetic sense when it comes to beauty.”
At my praise, Chloe shrugged and bragged to Armando. But Armando was more than ready to hype her up as much as he wanted, planning to use Chloe to flirt with a girl he liked at his department.
“I seriously think it’s amazing. Could it be that thanks to you, this is going to be a huge hit?”
“...... That sounds like you’re teasing me?”
“It’s just your imagination.”
While the two bickered, I inserted the label sheets I’d received from the factory into the machine. A lot of effort had gone into making this too.
Making wine doesn’t end in the vineyard and the oak barrels. The label gets made only after confirming countless procedures and regulations until it goes into the bottle and reaches the consumer’s hands.
The most important thing on the label is the wine’s name and design. As promised, Frederick suggested a name for the wine through Chloe, and unlike what I expected it to be, it was pretty good.
Cerasia.
He said it was a name taken from the Latin for cherry (Cerasus). I wondered where that burly guy got that kind of sensibility, but it turned out it was a name Chloe had come up with. Frederick pushed for ‘Brentwood Reserve', but he got shot down hard. Mm... well done, Chloe.
At that moment, Dad came out of the office and said,
“I got a call from Mark Harrington... the one who connected us to those three restaurants and attended the tasting.”
“And?”
"He wants to meet. He said he'll come here."
I recalled Mark’s face, the way he had looked at Dad with strange eyes during the tasting, and I let out a small snort of laughter.
“Tell him to come.”
I became quite curious about what the head of the Harrington family, which would be equivalent to the first family of Sonoma in old terms, would have to say.
*****
Author’s Note
I made the label for the cherry wine, Cerasia.
