Chapter 34: Harvest (2)
TL: Hanguk
Laird Family Estate, located in the southern part of Napa Valley. It was a custom-crush company that provided wine equipment rental services, and it was the largest place near Napa.
From the morning, several large trailers filed in one after another. When the rear of the trucks opened, 0.5-ton bins loaded to the brim with well-ripened grape clusters appeared in turn. The fruit in the sunlight looked fresh and firm, and the sweet smell of juice filled the air.
“They’re all Pinot Noir. This is the first batch, and it’s 15 tons, so please check it.”
The driver held out the invoice, and I nodded as I checked inside the cargo bed. The grapes, each berry plump and tight with ripeness, looked as if the juice would burst out at the slightest touch. I plucked one off with a light snap and chewed it with the skin on, and I could feel the exact taste and aroma I’d been wanting.
Since I had confirmed through a fermentation test on the day I went to the farm that they hadn’t been exposed to any wildfire smoke at all, I gave Dad a thumbs-up.
“Perfect.”
“Good.”
The bins were loaded onto a forklift and moved into the custom-crush facility. Inside, stainless steel fermentation tanks that had already been disinfected were lined up and gleaming, and in the air there was a faint mix of disinfectant and metallic smells. But every time a box of grapes came in, the fruit’s aroma blanketed over it.
“Please move them carefully! That goes to the destemming over here, and for 20%, we’ll crush them as-is without destemming!”
The process from when grapes arrive at the winery until they go into the fermentation vat is called 'destemming/pre-treatment'. Here, destemming means the work of removing the stems from the clusters and separating only the grape berries, and pre-treatment means the preparatory process of preserving flavor and aroma before fermentation through things like sorting, cooling, sanitation, and simple additions (SO₂, enzymes) done before and after destemming.
At my words, the Laird winery employee tilted his head in confusion but did as told. Saying I would put 20% of the clusters in whole without even removing the stems must have sounded strange. But since the customer wanted it, he didn’t seem inclined to pick a fight over it.
“The crusher rollers are set exactly the way I configured them, right?”
“That’s right~”
I immediately gave instructions to the workers and started the machine. The machine whirred as it separated the berries and stems from the clusters. The berries rolled and dropped onto the gray conveyor, and the removed stems piled up in a bin to the side. The berries went straight into the crusher, and the skins split slightly. In that instant, red grape juice poured down under the tank like a waterfall.
The smell of juice rising from the deep-crimson liquid collecting in the stainless receiving tub was sweet yet sharp.
Dad, watching from the side, exclaimed in admiration.
“Thinking all of this is going to become wine makes my heart race.”
“Right?”
"But putting whole clusters in wasn't in the books I read?"
These days, when he wasn’t working, Dad was immersed in studying, and sometimes he would throw out sharp questions like this.
"Ah, it's something that was researched not too long ago. It's called whole-cluster, a method of fermenting with the stems still attached to the clusters in the tank. Doing it this way creates more aroma and structure."
"Really?"
"Grape stems contain things like hexanone, terpenes, and organic acids. Some of that comes out during fermentation. This produces complex aromas like rose, jasmine, and herbs. Especially for varieties with red berry (cherry, raspberry) focused aromas like Pinot Noir, adding these elements increases complexity and sophistication."
"Oh- something like that was newly researched?"
"Yes. And stems also contain lignin, cellulose, and tannins, which provide additional structure. The important thing here is that you should only use stems when they're sufficiently ripe. In terms of color, when they've clearly turned brown. Otherwise, it gives off a green, unripe smell."
Besides this, there were various differences between the methods typically used at existing wineries and the method I was using this time, from hand-harvesting at dawn to avoiding bursting the grape berries as much as possible during destemming.
After that, once pre-regression techniques like cold soaking and oxygen management were added, I was confident I could make a wine on a completely different level from conventional Pinot Noir.
Having practically lived at Laird winery for nearly a week like this, I was only able to go back to school the following week.
"Why on earth haven't you been coming to school?"
Chloe had her lips stuck out in a pout, apparently dissatisfied that I hadn’t come to school for a week and also hadn’t been easy to reach by phone.
"I was really busy. Didn't Armando tell you?"
“Tell me what?”
“That I spent the whole week at a Pinot Noir custom-crush place, basically living soaked in grapes?”
She looked like she had no idea.
“No? He didn’t say anything.”
“Ah, I guess since I didn’t mention it first, he didn’t either.”
On days I didn’t go to school, Armando worked with me every single day and collected his daily pay, so he couldn’t help but know the most about me. Even so, if he hadn’t said anything, he seemed like a guy with a more tight-lipped mouth than he looked. If not, then maybe he knew just how sensitive I was about business.
“But Pinot Noir? Isn’t your family Cabernet Sauvignon?”
"I bought it from outside about half a year ago. Now that it's fermenting, it's still a long way before it has commercial value."
“How much is it?”
“45 tons?”
At the unexpected number, Chloe’s mouth fell wide open.
"Really? That's a lot, isn't it? Will you be okay?"
“Of course. And it’s not like I’m going to neglect the Cherry wine, so don’t worry about nothing.”
“I wasn’t worried. I was just bored.”
"Bored? You shouldn't have any free time with all your studying...?"
Her major, plant science, was by no means an easy field. Biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus, and statistics were basic courses for the major, and if she didn't stay on top of her major classes throughout her school life, she could easily fail.
“...... You talk like studying is easy?”
“I... I’m kind of okay at it.”
Maybe because she had the prejudice(?) that Asians are naturally good at studying, Chloe accepted it easily and made an annoyed expression.
“How can someone live doing nothing but studying? You’ll die.”
As someone who was living with hardly any studying at all, I only understood her impassioned words emotionally.
“Sure, you would.”
“Hah, anyway, are you going to Sunset Fest?”
Sunset Fest was a festival that UC Davis held regularly in early October, where famous singers and DJs and enrolled students put on all sorts of performances. I’d also heard that aside from the performances, there were various games and food stalls, and things like club introductions and freshman welcome events were held too.
"Do I have to...?"
Early October wasn’t exactly a leisurely time for me. It was the period when I had to keep checking the harvest timing of the Cabernet Sauvignon I’d cultivated with care for nearly a year.
Of course, that didn't mean I had to check every hour, but it was a time when it constantly weighed on my mind.
“You’re not going?”
When I flinched under her glaring look, Jacob came running up, letting out a huge shout at just that moment.
“Brian! Brian!”
Jacob, running over like Achilles after winning a battle, panted for a moment in front of me and then said,
“Did you see it? They’re having a festival called Sunset Fest!”
“...... I see.”
“Do you know who’s coming there? Don’t be surprised, seriously...”
Jacob, excited, rattled off the names of a few singers and bands, but I didn’t know any of them.
“Really? Seriously? Wow...”
That was all the reaction I could manage.
“Isn’t this what college life is? Let’s really have fun. Armando will probably like it the most.”
I couldn’t exactly tell them to go have fun among themselves.
“... Yeah, let’s do it.”
Chloe was sneering at me from the side with one corner of her mouth lifted, but I pretended not to see it.
At that moment, a man approached the soccer stadium stands where Chloe, Jacob, and I were sitting.
“Hey, you’re Brian, right? Do you remember me?”
When I looked, it was Matthew Higgins, a third-year who had introduced himself at the very first orientation. The son of the Castello Vineyards owner... in fact, the son of the wealthiest family in Napa Valley.
“Ah...”
“Why are you being so awkward?”
After we shook hands, he briefly looked over the friends next to me. Aside from the fact that his gaze lingered a little longer when he looked at Chloe, he calmly looked back at me and said,
"I heard from Siena that you're quite skilled?"
“Well, I’m not really sure about that.”
“Are you by any chance entering this year’s Sonoma County Harvest Fair?”
"I am entering, but not in wine. I'm only submitting Table Grapes."
At those words, Matthew Higgins shrugged as if surprised.
"Really? Why? I wanted to see those skills of yours."
From the words alone, it sounded like he was being snide, but his expression was serious, like he was genuinely curious. And in truth, what people here really paid attention to wasn’t grapes but wine. In the end, even good grapes were just ingredients for making good wine.
“I don’t have any wine finished by the end of October. My family took over the farm right around this time last year. Before that, we couldn’t produce proper grapes because of pests and disease.”
“Ah... so that’s what happened? Then you won’t be able to come out to the California wine festival either?”
If the Sonoma County Harvest Fair was a local festival, the California wine festival was a statewide festival on a different scale. Of course, even Sonoma County was enormous to call a local festival, but it still couldn’t be compared to all of California.
“Probably?”
“That’s too bad. Then at the Sonoma festival, I’ll only get to see your wine evaluation ability.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“Ah, you didn’t know? They provide our department students with a blind wine evaluation opportunity. The students’ scores don’t count, but it’s a chance to see what differences there are between the official judges and individual students. The professor gives extra points to the student who writes scores as close to the judges’ as possible.”
“Ah...”
"I'll see your real skills then. My expectations are high. I'm really curious."
Was this what they called a madman with innocent eyes? There seemed to be a strange glint of madness flickering in Matthew's eyes.
“Haha... it’s nothing special.”
“We’ll see about that when we see it. If anything about school life is hard, ask me anytime. Ah! Right. The varieties we grow are the same, aren’t they? Cabernet Sauvignon.”
“Th-that’s... right?”
“Our farm doesn’t usually enter things like Table Grape, but this time, I should enter. Just to see how it goes.”
Matthew pressed his index finger gently against my chest as he looked at me, smiled faintly, then turned and walked away. As I stared blankly at his back, Jacob said,
“Hey, that guy’s scary.”
“You’re scared of something too?”
“Of course. That guy’s kind of weird.”
Just as Jacob, who was like Achilles, shuddered and looked frightened, my phone buzzed annoyingly. The person calling out of the blue was Pierce Morgan from the Agricultural Extension Office.
“Do you have time, by any chance?”
“You mean time to stop by the Agricultural Extension Office?”
“That’s right.”
“If it’s something you need, I’ll make time even if I have to clear other things out.”
A light chuckle came from the other end, and I asked again.
“But what is it about...?”
“You remember what you asked me before. To let you know if a farm came up for auction at a good price.”
“Yes. Don’t tell me...?”
“Yeah. Because of the large-scale wildfires, a few decent farms in the Napa area have come up for auction. Are you interested?" I jumped up from my seat.
"Of course! Absolutely!"
*****
TL Note: The author has changed this novel's title to "God of Wine".