Chapter 42: Cerasia(2)
TL: Hanguk
Whether Mark came to the winery or not was none of my concern, so now I focused all my attention on bottling.
The bottling line had already been cleaned to a spotless state. As the stainless steel pipes connected the tank to the automatic filler, ruby-colored liquid began to flow into the silvery tubes. The machine let out a whirring sound as it lined the bottles up in a row, and precisely measured wine filled them at a steady pace.
“Wow...”
Chloe, watching from the side, held her breath. The cherry wine in clear 750ml glass bottles sparkled like jewels, and the air inside the winery filled with a rich fruit aroma.
For today, instead of a 0.65μm filter that strains out even bacteria and yeast to a sterilization level, I set it to a polishing filter. The intention was to filter only the haze and preserve the aroma as much as possible.
“Good.”
The bottled wine moved slowly along the conveyor belt. The moment a long 45mm natural cork slammed into the bottle neck with a thud, a smile formed on my lips without me realizing it. A capsule was fitted over it, then smoothly tightened to a perfect seal under the heat blower.
“Now, the label.”
Armando carefully operated the labeling machine with hands in white gloves. On white linen-textured paper, a red brushstroke and a refined signature caught the eye.
CERASIA
Below it, the wine’s identity and vintage year, [CHERRY WINE ‧ 2004], were printed, and in addition, the phrase [Redwood Winery Napa Valley, California] lightly hinted at the terroir information. And there was also the mandatory government warning label, [Contains Sulfites(meaning the wine contains sulfites (sulfur dioxide, SO₂))].
Additionally, on the back label, by writing that it was Brentwood Harris Orchards cherries, I made Frederick’s wish come true.
"Cerasia... Isn't it really nice? It feels like it would pair perfectly with Greek food. The name itself is completely romantic."
“I think the same.”
At Armando Cortes's halfhearted agreement, she furrowed her brow slightly but soon gazed lovingly at the finished bottle.
“You know what? Those 10 tons of cherries were harvested in the area I managed. So it’s made from my cherries. Isn’t the color so pretty?”
“I think the same.”
“......”
As they chatted away in rapture, I stared at them quietly and spoke.
“We have to stack all 8,000 bottles by tomorrow. Right after bottling, the wine gets shaken and stressed, so usually we have to stabilize it in the warehouse for at least about two weeks, but these have to go out after a fortnight. We don’t have time.”
At my warning, Armando Cortes spoke as if asking what I was talking about while filling the completed bottles into cases.
"See my hands? You can't see them, can you? And I'd appreciate it if you acknowledged that the one who's been chattering the whole time is Chloe, who's been doing nothing next to you."
“Chloe?”
“... If we sell it privately too, should I try doing some sales on my own?”
"You're fine, okay? Just sit there."
The automatic bottler ran without stopping, and I handed off the work I’d been doing to the laborers and watched for a moment to make sure they weren’t making mistakes. Doing all of this by myself is extremely inefficient.
Just then, Chloe, who had been watching from behind, poked me in the side a couple of times, then gestured with her chin, signaling that she wanted to talk for a moment. So I came out of the winery, and Chloe put both hands into her pants pockets and said.
“You said you were getting investment from my dad?”
“Ah... I’m trying to expand the facilities, but before I could even bring it up, your father said we should sign a long-term contract. I’d been thinking I needed to secure raw materials stably through a suitable cherry farm and a long-term contract anyway, so I thought it worked out well. But your father started talking about 100 tons?”
“From our side, 100 tons isn’t that big a portion. If it were up to him, he probably wanted to give you more than 200 tons. Our annual harvest is a thousand tons, so...”
"I know. But I had been constantly thinking our facilities were too small. I was thinking I'd expand the facilities after making some money, and when your father happened to bring that up, I asked if he could invest with a 10-year long-term contract."
This was actually true, because I had been thinking about expanding the facilities for a long time already.
The Redwood Farm that the previous farm owner, Mr. John Anderson, and even his father had built up was small to begin with, only about 15 acres in size, so the winery couldn’t help but be small as well. In Korea, about 15 acres would be considered a fairly large farm, but in the United States, that’s the perfect size to be described as nothing but a speck.
I didn’t know when it would be, but in the end, to earn big profits from a vineyard, you have to make wine, and it’s only natural that the bigger the winery, the bigger the profit.
The problem is that expanding winery facilities costs an enormous amount of money. So much that even receiving $700,000 would be far from enough.
For example, there’s even a record that around the mid-1990s, a farm in Napa Valley dug an underground cave and built a large facility including a production building, and the construction cost alone exceeded $25 million.
You might ask why anyone would invest that much money into something like that, but put another way, it was a case that showed just how tremendous Napa Valley’s wine profits are, and it made it clear why Napa Valley vineyards are, on average, more than four times as expensive as those in other regions.
“Then you'll keep doing business with our farm for ten years, right?”
“That’s right. Why?”
Chloe suddenly twisted her body around, read the room, then blurted it out.
“Then, um... I was thinking, maybe you could give a lot of help for our farm.”
“Hm?”
“Think about it. If the quality of our farm’s cherries improves and the production increases, that’s good for you too.”
"I admit that if quality improves, wine quality goes up, so it's good for us. But how is it good for us if production increases?"
It wasn’t a question I would have asked if the other person were Frederick, but because it was Chloe, I tossed it out playfully. But Chloe’s eyes widened and she raised her voice.
“Of course it gets better. If production increases, we can lower the supply price.”
“Oh? Really? But we’d be fixing the supply price in the contract, right? Raising the unit price by a certain percentage every year?”
She hesitated as if she hadn’t thought of that, then planted both hands on her hips.
“Then we can add it to the contract. If you raise our farm’s production, we lower the supply price. How about it?”
Honestly, this tempted me a bit. I’d have to buy 100 tons of cherries every year for $110,000, which is a huge sum, well over 100 million won in Korean money.
Still, I figured it could depend on whether they would reduce the supply price, or whether they would offset the supply price itself by the amount of additional production. If it was just a small reduction in the supply price, I obviously wouldn’t feel like doing it.
“I think I’ll have to discuss that with your father.”
“Really? Then it’s not a definite no?”
“Well... there’s nothing impossible in this world.”
“Good! Come to our house later.”
“Sure.”
If nothing else, I remembered Chloe’s mom being pretty good at cooking.
After talking with Chloe like that, and spending a couple of hours checking on the laborers as they worked, I saw a luxury SUV coming in down at the farm entrance below.
“He’s here.”
It was Mark Harrington of Harrington Vineyards in Sonoma County. Wearing stylish sunglasses, he strolled up the farm with ease.
“You saw me yesterday, right? Good to see you.”
“Welcome.”
I shook his hand naturally.
“Where is your father?”
“He’s inside. Let’s go in.”
I guided him inside. Wearing a white shirt and neatly pressed pants, he shook hands with Dad, then sat down at the small table in the office.
“I’m glad to see you again. But... what brings you here today?”
When Dad asked, he was about to answer but then pointed at me as I leaned against the table behind Dad.
"I was going to have a business discussion between adults."
Before I could even respond, Dad stepped in.
“Ah, my son is practically the person responsible for running the winery. We always discuss things together. So there’s nothing strange about him listening in on today’s conversation as well. All the more so when it’s a business matter.”
“Ah-.”
He nodded with a subtle expression. Then Dad added one more thing.
“And it’s an etiquette for Asian people, but when we have a business meeting, we don’t wear sunglasses. If you can’t see someone’s eyes, you can’t trust them.”
Startled for a moment by that, Mark immediately took off his sunglasses and said.
“I’m sorry. The sunlight was so strong that I guess I ended up keeping them on without realizing it.”
In fact, even in the United States, if you wear sunglasses during a business meeting, you get criticized as being rude because the other person can’t see your eyes. Dad deliberately mentioned Asia to spare his dignity.
I couldn’t tell whether him wearing sunglasses indoors was truly a mistake, or whether he was trying to hide his eyes to gain an advantage in negotiations.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Um... actually, the reason I came back to Redwood Winery today is because there’s something I’d like to propose to you as a business matter.”
“What kind of proposal...?”
“I’ll get straight to the point. We want to buy Redwood Winery.”
“Excuse me? You want to buy this place?”
“Yes. Ah, that doesn’t mean we want to buy all rights outright. We want to buy half of Redwood Winery’s shares. And we’re offering five million dollars as the investment. Also, if the farm has any loans, the condition is that we will take on about half of that debt.”
Five million dollars was a bit over five billion won at the 2004 exchange rate. Five million dollars was money that most people would never get their hands on even if they saved for their entire lives, and even here in the United States, it was a considerable sum.
“Let me say again, it’s half the shares. You receive five million dollars as a lump sum, clear away half of the farm’s debt you’re carrying, and then you can take half of the farm’s profits every year. For the rest of your life.”
For most immigrants, it was such an unspeakably sweet offer that their hearts would race the moment they heard it. Of course, Redwood was not included among that “most”.
Dad had already talked it over with me, and because of the excitement(?) he had felt at the tasting event, he couldn’t even imagine selling the winery’s shares. So he waved his hand with a very relaxed smile.
“I’m sorry, but we have no intention of doing that. None at all.”
“As far as I know, it’s been one year since you took it over, but farming is never easy. You saw the wildfire this time too, but you have to take on considerable risk. The same goes for wine. You know that the price of wine per gallon has been on a downward trend for three straight years, right? You don’t know how far it will fall. But we, with our massive capital, can endure that risk and the long-term growth trend...”
“No. We’re not interested.”
At Dad’s firm answer, Mark straightened his back.
“I know you have confidence in your wine, but the facilities here are small, and there’s a limit to growth. If you earn little by little, expand the facilities, and get proper capital in your hands, it will take at least ten years. We’re bringing those ten years forward.”
“...”
“Don’t forget that wine prices have been falling for three years. Cherry wine will put cash in your hands right away, but Pinot Noir has to be left with a custom crush company for at least a year and a half. It’ll probably be about two years, and after paying that rental fee, how much money will you really have left in your hands?”
That probably sounded quite threatening. Maybe because the estimated rental fees for about two years for over 20,000 liters of Pinot Noir were more than $300,000, I could feel Dad’s shoulders tremble slightly. So I cut in lightly.
“Really? I don’t think so.”
Mark’s brows furrowed. He didn’t like that a kid who didn’t know anything was butting in while the adults were talking business. But as I continued, his furrowed expression gradually hardened.
“You know the movie Sideways came out a month ago, right? It’s a movie about wine, and because of it, I heard Pinot Noir sales have already started creeping up little by little. If that’s the case, it seems like the price per gallon will go up soon too...”
“Huh? That’s just... a momentary curiosity...”
As he panicked at the unexpected topic, I shrugged.
"Why don't you see for yourself? Whether it rose slightly from momentary curiosity, or... whether it will rise enough to affect the market."
“......”
“I’m curious too. How much will the price of Pinot Noir, which kept dropping, go up...? It won’t shoot up like crazy or anything, right? Hahaha!”
“......”
*****
Author's Note
This is an image of part of a winery facility that was listed for sale at 65 million dollars.
