Chapter 128: A Piece for Completion (2)
TL: Hanguk
As we made our way down the mountain after sealing the wine deal, Warren asked,
"Satisfied now?"
"Yes. The quality's even better than I expected."
It wasn't as though no one in the Napa Valley grew Cabernet Franc, but it was mostly planted as a supporting variety for blending, or made to suit the tastes of a handful of winemakers, which meant good fruit wasn't something one could simply buy just because one wanted it.
That was why a question had been nagging at me.
"There's something I've been wondering about..."
"What is it?"
"If someone's a close friend of yours, Warren, and knows wine inside out, then surely he's famous and runs some incredible winery, right? But I'd never even heard his name before, let alone his winery's."
"Ah, you mean that?"
Warren's eyes crinkled into a quiet smile, and he said,
"He's an odd one. He's never been the type to tie wine to money in the first place. He's just a man who loves good wine, and his palate's peculiar enough that he set out to grow the wine he wanted to drink himself, that's all."
"Ahh..."
"But he's so good that even those oddball wines of his sold well, and ten years ago he got fixated on Cabernet Franc, sold his Napa farm, and moved out to a vineyard 600 meters above sea level."
"He sounds like quite a man."
"No need to go feeling sorry for him, though. His wines have a solid cult following, so even if he's never had a huge hit, he's never gone under either."
"When I tasted his wine earlier, I could sense a master's skill in it."
"If Cabernet Franc ever gets recognized as a flagship variety the way Cabernet Sauvignon is, his winery's bound to hit it big. Assuming he lives that long, that is."
Maybe it came with old age, but he spoke of death awfully lightly.
"You two must be really close, then?"
"Because we just clicked. We never pried too deep into each other's private lives, and he never envied my winery or my success. You might come to feel this yourself one day, but when I get too successful, a lot of the people around me end up drifting away."
"......"
"When I've got money and my name keeps rising, more people come around, but they're flocking to my money and my reputation, not to me. And the friends who used to like me, at some point they start measuring themselves against me and naturally pull away. Then comes the envy. And before you know it, there's no one left around worth opening your heart to."
Having lived a life before my regression that no one could have called a success, I found his words now struck a deep chord.
"So to make it last, everyone has to succeed together."
"Exactly. The relationships that last are the ones where neither side envies the other, where you can celebrate and brag about each other from the heart. Edward's a bit of an exception to that, but only because he's a special sort. The kind of man who isn't swayed by anyone else's wealth or fame. There aren't many people like that in this world."
"I think you're right."
It struck me that if I wanted things with my friends to last, I ought to help them prosper regardless of my own cut, and then it occurred to me that I'd already bound us together by contract anyway, so all the better.
By the time we'd made the long trek down the mountain and reached the winery, a visitor was waiting.
"It's been a while."
It was Christopher White, the distributor for Sylphide. He gave me a small nod and then turned to Warren with a look of barely contained excitement. Reading the look that begged me to introduce them quickly, I let out a small chuckle and gestured toward Christopher.
"This is Christopher. He distributes our wine, Sylphide. His company's called White & Company Wine Trading. He's a UC Davis man, too."
"Pleased to meet you."
When Warren extended his hand, Christopher clasped it with an almost awestruck expression.
"I've glimpsed you from afar before, but this is the first time I've had the honor of greeting you properly. Christopher White."
"Can't say I've heard of the company. What do you mainly distribute?"
"Up to now we've mostly handled Pinot Noir and Merlot from the Sonoma region, in the thirty-to-eighty-dollar range, but with Sylphide we've started putting out wines over a hundred dollars for the first time."
"I hear Sylphide goes mostly to the East Coast?"
"That's right. With interest in Pinot Noir exploding, centered on New York, Sylphide's value just keeps climbing."
"You must be making a fortune."
"It's all thanks to Brian."
Christopher had been sitting by himself on the reception sofa in the office; with Dad away managing another of the farm plots, there'd been nothing to be done about it.
Once I'd brought out some simple drinks, handed them around, and sat down, Christopher got to the point of his visit.
"The reason I came today is partly that I heard Mr. Warren Winiarski was visiting Redwood and wanted to pay my respects, and partly that we've reached an agreement with a Japanese wine distributor, so I came to ask whether you might have any export volume set aside."
The introductions were already done and behind us, but the talk of exporting to Japan made me knit my brow.
"To Japan? Hmm... Are you asking whether additional volume is possible, on top of the existing Sylphide allocation?"
"That's correct."
"When I took over Ironwood Farm, I did secure a sizable amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, but I haven't decided yet whether to release it this year."
"It would be a very good opportunity. Thanks to the retasting held last year to mark the 30th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris, interest in American wine is starting to grow even in East Asia. And a Redwood wine that's made a strong showing at the San Francisco Chronicle and the DWWA (Decanter World Wine Awards) would draw a great deal of attention over there."
Since serious revenue was riding on this, Christopher fixed me with a pleading look. But then Warren cut in.
"What's this Ironwood Farm?"
"Ah... it's a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard about a twenty-minute bike ride from here. Thirty acres."
"So it's much bigger than this place?"
"That's right. Counting this place, the Silver Oak plot, and Ironwood, it all comes to about sixty-five acres."
"You've built it up steadily, haven't you."
He nodded with a satisfied look. Christopher, though, who wasn't much interested in any of that, kept his eyes on me, waiting to hear an answer.
"I do think the quality of the grapes grown at Ironwood Cellars won't be bad."
"But?"
Since taking it over, I'd tilled the soil from scratch and been growing the grapes exactly by the Redwood method, but only as of this year. Last year's harvest, even if my own hands had touched it, hadn't been grown my way from start to finish. So it was hard to guarantee the quality.
"I'd have to wait at least until past August to see how it's looking. If I judge the quality to be lacking, I can't blend it into Echelon."
"Ah..."
Christopher's face fell with disappointment. Even if a wine came from the same winery, unless it was a brand that had earned strong reviews, it could never command a high price.
And put it out at a cheaper price than the existing flagship wines? Consumers would write it off as a budget version of Echelon in a heartbeat, no question about it.
"If it really does turn out that way, I'd put it out under a new brand at a lower price point, but that'll take some time too. I have no intention of releasing it with the same blend as the current Echelon."
What I meant was that I had no intention of putting it out as a literal budget version of Echelon; even if the quality was a touch lower, I'd release it as a wine with an entirely different character.
"A shame, but we won't know until past August, then. The truth is, they told me that if I could give them the volume in advance they'd set their budget around it, so I think I got a little ahead of myself. Please just forget what I said today and make it at your own pace."
"Thank you for understanding. I'd be glad to give it to you if only I were sure... Echelon's overseas distribution falls outside the existing contract, so I could give you as much as you'd want."
"It's fine. Oh, um... any word of new releases from Golden Grain House?"
"Not yet. They're slammed just keeping up with current shipments as it is."
If I had to pick the busiest of my friends, Jacob was the clear winner. Even before, with The One selling well enough, Jacob had practically lived at the distillery, and these days he was so swamped he could barely make it to school.
Here Warren cut in again.
"And what's this Golden Grain House?"
"Ah, one of my friends used to run a rice farm, and a little while back he set up a distillery and started selling Korean-style vodka and fruit soju."
"Your friend runs a distillery?"
"Yes. Another friend makes grape vinegar at a farm in Alexander Valley, and another one runs a cherry and pear orchard."
Warren wore a look of admiration at my roster of friends.
"You're not even halfway through your twenties, so how come your friends are this impressive?"
"We've all been friends since high school, and we got even closer going to UC Davis together. Only Armando, the one with the farm in Alexander Valley, bought his place recently; the other two had family farms from the start, so..."
"So this friend doing the rice farming is around your age too?"
"That's right. His fruit soju's been a huge hit lately, and what was it again...? I heard he's already cleared two million dollars in sales in the first quarter alone."
At that, Warren gave me an incredulous look.
"Seems I gave you advice for nothing back there. You're already doing better than me."
"Not at all. It just sort of turned out that way. Anyway, there won't be any new releases for a while."
"Understood. I'll come by again in August, then."
"Sounds good!"
After a light handshake with me, Christopher gave Warren one more respectful bow and left the winery.
"I'd like to visit your friends' farms sometime, too."
"Everyone's swamped right now, so maybe later. Though Armando might actually enjoy it."
Even as I said that, I knew he wasn't really interested. I hadn't known him long, but he was a man strangely indifferent to anything that wasn't wine.
Three days later, we carefully moved the Cabernet Franc barrels, delivered by a special transport vehicle, into the aging cellar.
Warren looked over my blending plan and said,
"You're badly short on Merlot. The Merlot you've got is exceptional, but with that you'll only have enough for the auction lots. And you'll need Petit Verdot too, won't you? How did you handle it for Echelon?"
"I contracted from places that seemed decent and brought it in; it's not as if I went around to every single farm to verify it myself."
"I see... There's a risk it could become an issue with Ste. Michelle, so I'm in a tough spot recommending Merlot and Petit Verdot anywhere in Napa or Sonoma. If we snap up the good-quality stuff, they could come after me for leaking insider information."
"I completely understand. It's fine."
I figured he'd already helped me plenty just with this and didn't need to do any more, but instead he waved a hand.
"Nonsense. The greatest wine allows no compromise."
I'd never once said I was going to make the greatest wine in the world, but Warren stroked his chin with his fingertips and pondered, as though weighing some momentous decision.
"There's really no need..."
Just as I was about to refuse, he lifted his head and said,
"It doesn't have to be California, does it?"
"Well... that's true, I suppose?"
"How about taking a trip out to Washington with me?"
"Washington?"
"That's right. Washington's Columbia Valley, the region that produces the finest Petit Verdot."
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