Chapter 113: Decanter World Wine Awards (4)
TL: Hanguk
Three hours earlier, the Conrad St. James Hotel in London.
As English weather always went, a fine drizzle had been falling outside the windows since morning. Thick clouds hung overhead, lending everything a gloomy cast, but inside the hotel the atmosphere was a world apart. The attendees, full of anticipation, excitement, and nervous tension, kept glancing at their watches as they waited for the hour to come.
How much time had passed?
The lights dimmed, and the host's British accent rang out across the hall.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now announce the results of the 2007 Decanter World Wine Awards. As a reminder, each wine was evaluated in groups by price range, region, and varietal, and Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals are awarded according to the average score. In addition, any wine judged Gold automatically advances to the next round of candidates."
The DWWA's judging system was fairly similar to the San Francisco Chronicle's. With the Chronicle, wines from Double Gold and up went on to additional judging to compete for the very top tier, while with the DWWA, a wine that earned Gold could go through an extra round of judging called Best in Show to win the Platinum tier.
"We'll begin with the Bronze awards."
Because rankings within each region and price range were decided by comparison, the announcement of results inevitably dragged on. In that respect, since Echelon and Sylphide had pushed their wholesale prices above $70, the wines they were up against were of a far higher caliber, which made things tougher than at the San Francisco Chronicle.
That was the one thing Christopher had been mildly worried about. But after a good long while, when Redwood Winery was finally mentioned, he could at last break into a bright smile.
"Gold Medal – Redwood Winery, Echelon 2005, Cabernet Blend, California."
Some people had seen it coming to a degree, but most wore looks of surprise. Redwood Echelon wasn't an old brand even in America, just the kind only insiders knew. So it was an even more unfamiliar name in Europe, and for it to take Gold in a price range above 100 pounds, people couldn't help but be astonished.
But that wasn't the end of it.
"Gold Medal – Redwood Winery, Sylphide 2005, Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley."
Two Gold medals at once. Christopher, who had already been factoring in the two Double Golds they'd won at the San Francisco Chronicle, expressed his pleasure calmly, but the people around him were another matter. They all offered their congratulations to the man who had entered Echelon and Sylphide, casting him meaningful looks.
If they were a winery, it was to take note of the Redwood brand; if they were a distributor, it was the greedy look of someone who wanted to bring it to Europe.
"We did it! I knew it would turn out like this!"
Thomas clenched his fist and looked at him.
"That's a relief, since they recognized its value..."
It was clearly a happy occasion, yet there was something oddly bitter in Christopher's expression.
Sylphide taking Gold was naturally good for him, but Echelon wasn't a wine he distributed, so it left a sour taste for no good reason. And if, in the Best in Show that chose the best of the Gold-tier wines, only Echelon went on to take Platinum, it would sting all the more.
After the long ceremony ended, while walking down the hotel corridor, Christopher ran into Eliza Wadsworth. Or rather, to be precise, it was she who recognized Christopher and came over to him.
"Both bottles taking Gold, that's quite something."
"Thank you."
"Come to think of it, I don't think I explained myself properly last time. If you were to send, say, about half of the wine you've secured to England, I could offer you better returns than distributing it in the States, and I realize I never mentioned that."
"Is that so? Wadsworth & Co. certainly earns its reputation, anticipating and resolving a small company's concerns before we've even voiced them."
"Of course. On top of that, for the winery's owner, I could arrange tours of and meetings with the major wineries of Europe. The expenses would be on us, naturally."
"Ohh, that too would be a real draw for the owner. We'll be sure to pass it along."
He answered with a smile, but she fixed Christopher with a curious glint in her eye and said,
"I do hope you will. I'm someone who respects each person's position and seeks mutual benefit through cooperation, you see."
"As am I. With a philosophy like that, it's no wonder Wadsworth has such a long history. Impressive."
"Indeed. Our doors are always open, so if you reach out, we'll do our very best to assist you."
"Thank you."
She brushed past Christopher and walked on. Once she was well away, Thomas turned to Christopher, whose expression had gone slightly stiff, and asked,
"What's wrong?"
"She's basically asking us to help her build a direct relationship with the winery's owner."
"Ah...!"
"Distributing wine comes down to all sorts of conditions, but in the end a personal relationship with the owner matters most. That kind of rapport can kill a deal that should have worked and make one happen that never should have."
"But if she really wanted to, couldn't that woman just visit Redwood herself and build the relationship directly?"
Christopher nodded as he kept walking.
"She could. But the justification matters. There's already a distributor sitting right there holding the exclusive distribution rights, and she's going to fly all the way from England to America to snatch them away? It's not impossible, but the risk if she fails is huge. Especially for a distributor as big as Wadsworth & Co...."
"You mean the humiliation if it flopped would be too embarrassing?"
"To put it simply, yeah. She'd be dragged through the mud everywhere. If a company that size shows up in person and fails, all it does is boost the reputation of the winery and the company that holds the exclusive rights, while she eats the humiliation alone. And even if she succeeds, she won't hear anything good from the wine world. Wine is, at its core, a drink of the aristocracy."
"Ah... so they'd treat her like a company with no class?"
"That's it. Which is why she wants a natural meeting. Something that wouldn't look odd to anyone. Then she uses that naturally formed relationship to get the winery to hand over the exclusive distribution on its own."
"Wow, that's terrifying."
Thomas shook his head, thoroughly put off. But Christopher just shrugged and spoke as if it were obvious.
"That's exactly the power of tradition and history. It makes the other side bow on its own."
"True. Even a club with history, struggling though it might be now, has sports stars happy to go and try to revive its old glory."
"Hm?"
"Haha, we're in England, so I figured I'd bring up football."
"Well, anyway, that's how it is. So there's no need to take that woman's words to heart. If anything, you should wipe them from your memory."
"Yes, sir! I'll keep that in mind."
Once he was out of the hotel, Christopher climbed into a taxi and picked up his phone. He had to share the happy news with the winery, which would surely be waiting.
"Brian! The results are in!"
"How did it go?"
Christopher was a little let down by how flat the question was, but he knew Brian's personality well enough not to mind, and went on cheerfully.
"Both Echelon and Sylphide took Gold. They've both made the Best in Show candidate list, so within a week they'll go through the extra judging, and we'll find out whether or not they earn the Platinum tier."
"That's great. Good work on this."
"You don't sound all that thrilled, though?"
A light chuckle from Brian came through the receiver.
"What are you talking about. Of course I'm happy. You could've just entered Sylphide, but you put Echelon in too. Thank you."
"It's my job. Anyway, there's still one stage to go, so even if the result isn't good, don't let it get you down; let's go grab a drink."
"Sure, sure."
Christopher hung up and frowned at the dreary weather outside the window.
"This is why England never grows on me."
"We took Gold, both of them."
I said it as I hung up the phone, and Chloe gave a little hop.
"That's a huge deal! Congratulations!"
"Thanks."
"Aren't you being way too calm about it? If it were me, I'd be so thrilled I'd tell the whole town."
"Christopher will spread the word on his own anyway, not me. And I was expecting it, more or less."
At my words, Chloe's jaw dropped.
"Ha, anyone else who heard that would've thought you were insufferable, you know?"
"I wouldn't have said something like this to anyone else."
For a moment Chloe squirmed, fidgeting for no reason, and said,
"Well, I guess that's true."
I had a feeling I knew what she was thinking, so I let out a small laugh and started walking.
"If you've seen it all, let's go."
The plan was that after showing her around this place, we'd head straight to the pear orchard so I could check on the soil and how the pear trees were growing. Chloe came scurrying up behind me and asked,
"I heard you went to that senior's birthday party, Sienna or whatever her name is?"
I turned my head as casually as I could.
"Hm? Oh... yeah, I did."
"Armando says there was a pool party too?"
Inwardly, I let loose a stream of curses at Armando.
"...... Ah! Armando's the one who jumped into the party and had a blast. Me, that kind of thing isn't fun, so I didn't even get in the water; I talked with Sienna's dad. Turned out he had business with me."
The moment I brought up Sienna's dad, Chloe's eyebrows, which had been arched at a rather steep angle, settled back into balance.
"Yeah? What about?"
"Just some event the California state government's putting on; he wanted me to take part in it with him, but I said no. It's a hassle, and I'm not even sure it's worth it."
"Hmm..."
"Oh, and Armando was chasing after Sienna so hard, fawning all over her, it was painful to watch. Honestly, it was better back in high school when he could barely even talk to her."
"Hahaha! True."
Chloe burst out laughing, and before I knew it she'd completely forgotten about the birthday party and moved on to another topic. After we'd chatted away like that for about two hours, we arrived at Chloe's pear farm in Lodi.
The farm boasted more acreage than all the vineyards our Redwood owned put together, and just looking at it made my chest swell.
"Do the workers listen to you?"
"Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But the senior manager handles things like a pro, so everyone follows his lead."
"Then the real question is whether that senior manager listens to you. Was it that fellow Liam I met before? The one with the friendly face..."
I'd first been introduced to him when I visited the farm last year, and I'd seen him once or twice since, though we'd never talked for any length of time.
"Right. I was so worried at first, remember? But he listens better than I expected, I think?"
Last year, when the saplings were planted, I'd gone to help, but for the most part it was experts in planting saplings who came and did the work. After that I'd helped with running the farm, but since I couldn't be there to oversee it every time, I'd put together a manual and given it to Chloe.
That manual didn't hold anything like knowledge from before my regression; it just laid out the basics of farming and a set of rules about what not to do when growing Niitaka pears, so as long as she followed it, she could farm without much trouble.
"Then that's a relief."
This pear farm had been treated with biochar compound fertilizer as well, so I wasn't too worried about the soil's nutrient levels.
"Oh? Isn't that Liam coming over there?"
The man walking toward us from a distance was a pleasant-looking, middle-aged fellow with a splendid mustache. As he came up, he held out his hand to me in greeting.
"Well, the young miss's boyfriend has come again, I see."
I was caught off guard for a second, but I laughed it off awkwardly.
"Haha, well..."
"I hear you run a fairly large winery up in Napa, and the young miss seems to lean on you a great deal. From what I gather, the crop was your recommendation too..."
"Yes, that's right."
"Then would it be all right if I asked you something?"
"Of course."
"On some of the trees, the graft union has been swelling up. Would you happen to know what's behind it?"
"Huh? Where is this happening?"
"This way."
After following him for about ten minutes, I could see the graft unions swelling slightly, as if they'd been wrapped in a scarf.
"Do you know the reason? It looks like a water shortage to me, but..."
I bent my knees a little, examined the spot, and figured out the cause. Just as I was about to answer, I caught sight of a group of people walking toward us from far off.
Even at a distance their faces were hard and grim; it didn't look like they were coming with good intentions. Following my gaze, Liam and Chloe spotted them too, and their faces stiffened.
"Those people..."
"What is it?"
"It's about the water."
Liam wore a troubled expression, glancing back and forth between me and Chloe.
*****
Join our Discord for announcements or to report any mistakes.