Chapter 91: The Re-Tasting (3)
TL: Hanguk
Two days after the 30th Anniversary Judgment of Paris re-tasting and New Blood of Napa wrapped up, Christopher White stormed into the winery, face flushed red and breathing hard. He had a folded newspaper in his hand, and the headline was set in thick, bold type.
[APEX CREATIVE ANNOUNCES GLOBAL WINE COMPETITION PROGRAM <Wine Masters>]
"Did you see this?"
He slammed the newspaper down onto the desk, the rims of his eyes burning red.
"Richard Spencer, that man... he cut Redwood out, just us!"
I picked up the newspaper slowly. The photograph showed the logos of French, Italian, and American wineries lined up side by side. Silveroak, Harrington, Duckhorn, Martinborough, Masseto.
But Redwood's name wasn't anywhere to be found.
"He cut us out on purpose. He didn't like the idea of an Asian-run winery being featured on the main stage."
There was anger in his voice.
"You think I'm going to just sit back and take this? I'm going to file a complaint with headquarters. I'll fly to New York and..."
"There's no need for that."
He stopped at my words and looked over at me.
"What did you say?"
"I said it's fine. Honestly, I think it worked out for the best."
A look of bewilderment crossed his face.
"Are you out of your mind? This is a publicity opportunity! A chance to be broadcast worldwide! And you're just going to throw that away?"
I scratched the bridge of my nose as I spoke.
"I'm not an entertainer, and I don't want to be one. And I don't want to go on TV for the sake of promoting wine."
"But..."
He lost his words, stared at my face for a long moment, then let out a dry laugh.
"You're impossible to understand. Kicking honor away with your own foot."
"What I mean is, I don't want to earn the winery's reputation through a TV show. And this year's harvest is far more important to me than appearing on something like that."
"......"
I gestured toward the stack of files next to the computer monitor.
"There's a mountain of work to do right now. Chloe is taking care of the new orchard in Lodi, Armando is inspecting the vinegar aging line. Jacob says there aren't enough hours in the day for him to develop the premium soju prototype. I need to help all three of them."
He let out a deep breath and finally relaxed his shoulders.
"Well, if that's how it is... You don't really act like someone your age these days."
Seeing how visibly disappointed he was, I smiled and answered.
"Richard Spencer is a businessman, so of course he makes a show out of everything. But I'm a farmer. Richard lives his way, and I live mine."
A brief silence passed, and then Christopher gave a hollow laugh and nodded.
"Fair enough. Just because you don't go on a TV show doesn't mean the wines Redwood releases won't sell. Alright. I won't reach out to him either."
He got up from his seat as he spoke.
"Still, you really are a strange one."
"It's because I'm a farmer."
"Don't ever forget those words."
After he left, I headed straight to Brentwood. The Brentwood cherry farms were in the thick of harvest season, the red fruit glinting in the sunlight even from a distance. The roar of tractors, the clatter of baskets banging against each other, and the sweet scent of ripe fruit filled the air.
"Brian!"
Frederick waved as he approached, his thick forearms streaked with red stains. Behind him, Chloe took off her hat and wiped away the sweat.
"Been harvesting all day. We'll probably pull in 60 tons just today. I'm exhausted!"
I smiled.
"That's great news."
There was a time when Chloe would scan her surroundings warily, terrified that a bug might land on her hand. Now she flicked a gnat off her clothes with a casual finger. She'd been completely reborn as a farmer's daughter.
"Let's head inside. I was about to go in anyway."
Frederick placed a hand on my shoulder like a father with his son and led me along warmly.
"This year's yield is about 80% of last year's. That's because we did extra topworking for the variety changes."
"How was the take rate on the topworking you did last year?"
"Most of it took. Over 90% is growing well."
"At that rate, the yield isn't bad at all."
"Right. And more than anything, the sugar content and uniformity of the flesh are excellent. We're going to get a good price again this year... Honestly, even without the profit share from your Cerasia sales, we wouldn't have come up too short. But now I'm already looking forward to next year's Cerasia revenue share, you know?"
"Hahaha!"
I burst out laughing. The amount that had gone to Frederick from the Cerasia profit-sharing this time around was a full $430,000. He was getting a return that he couldn't have made selling a hundred tons of cherries, so it was no wonder he was over the moon.
"Oh, that reminds me, I heard. You've got a friend of our daughter named Jacob? You're helping him with distilled liquor, I hear? They say his business is going well thanks to that magazine feature?"
"Yes."
"So, with him too...?"
"That one's the other way around. I taught him the distilling method, and I take 30% of the profit."
"Oh, so the structure ends up similar after all?"
"That's right."
"Hmm... As I figured, it's far more profitable to do secondary processing than to just run an orchard."
The way he nodded, he looked genuinely envious. And I understood where he was coming from. No matter how hard you worked at selling cherries, walnuts, olives, or tomatoes, there was a ceiling on the profit. So hearing that his daughter's friend Jacob had moved from rice farming to boosting revenue through distilled liquor, it was natural that his interest got piqued.
That was how Frederick and I ended up sitting down inside the office-cum-storehouse building set up on the farm, while Chloe washed some cherries that were lying around the office.
"In another two years or so, we'll be harvesting the Royal Tioga. I'm already looking forward to it."
"The returns will be solid. Once you're producing Coral Champagne, Royal Tioga, and Sweetheart on top of everything else, the profits will be maximized."
"This year, the market is quietly seeking out our farm's cherries. Among all the Bing cherries out there, ours have got to be the best. You know what, William Hartford, the chairman of the Cherry Growers Cooperative, even came asking me about my changed cherry farming methods. You have no idea how satisfying that was, hahaha!"
He let out a hearty laugh, as if a decade's worth of pent-up frustration was finally clearing out, and he clapped me on the shoulder one more time before adding, in a very serious voice:
"I'll never teach him. Not in a million years."
"Yeah... you're doing the right thing. Speaking of which, I was thinking of doing things a little differently this time around."
"How so?"
"First, I want to keep the existing Cerasia in the same form we've been selling it in. And on top of that, I'm thinking of additionally aging some for over four months in oak barrels and releasing that as a separate product."
At this unexpected proposal, both Frederick and Chloe, who had just brought over the washed cherries, looked surprised.
"You're saying you want to take Cerasia even more upscale?"
"That's right. Cerasia is already a wine that sets itself apart from the typical overly-sweet dessert wines, but I want to add a more complex aroma on top of that."
The mention of an aroma even more complex than the current one already had Frederick's eyes filling with anticipation.
"That's a pretty large volume, isn't it possible? Plus, if you reduce the existing supply, initial sales will drop, won't they?"
"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it. I want to keep supplying the existing 100 tons as is, and request an additional 100 tons for the upscale cherry wine. What do you think?"
Both of them were stunned by my words.
"100 tons plus another 100 tons?"
"A total of 200 tons?"
I pulled out a photograph from my small bag, one of Laird Family Estate where Sylphide had originally been made. It was a shot taken during the destemming and aging process of the Pinot Noir we'd received from Hart Farm, and as one of the largest custom crush facilities in Napa Valley, the facility itself was no small operation.
"We originally made it at our own Redwood Winery, but this time I'm planning to use custom crush. Cherry wine itself can't fetch a high price, so custom crush usually drives costs up too much to make a profit, but if we bring in over 100 tons, we can secure plenty of margin."
"Then the brand changes too?"
"That's right. The existing Cerasia stays the same, and we'll make a Reserve."
Chloe's eyes went wide.
"Cerasia Reserve? That's a pretty nice name."
"It's a good name."
"But isn't four months of aging too short?"
"If it stays in the oak barrels for over six months, the cherry aroma gets buried, so that won't work."
"Ah... so there's that issue too. So you want to preserve the cherry aroma while still drawing in the complex notes of the oak barrel... There's definitely a real advantage there. But the full 100 tons all as Reserve?"
"That part I need to think through more carefully. A significant portion of the demand for cherry wine is from women, so if it gets too heavy, sales could drop."
"That might be true."
At that moment, Chloe held out the cherries she'd washed.
"Try one."
"Sure."
The freshly picked cherries had an intense, sweet aroma from the very first whiff, and the moment the skin burst, sweet-tart juice spread through my mouth. Cherries are the kind of fruit where, once you start, you can't stop, so I cleaned out the entire basket in no time.
"They're delicious."
"Right? Everybody loves them."
After spending time eating cherries and chatting in that warm atmosphere, the next day, I headed to school as usual. But maybe because of how big the recent event had been, the UC Davis viticulture and enology building felt like a festival from early in the morning.
A huge banner hung at the campus's main gate.
[Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary, U.S. Triumph Again!]
In front of the building's entrance, reporters and camera crews were swarming, and students were posing for photos with wine bottles and cheering.
"Thirty years later, we did it again!"
Professors and researchers were embracing each other, and on one corner of the campus grounds, students were popping open bottles of wine on the spot for impromptu toasts.
With the U.S. defeating France once again at the 30th Anniversary Judgment of Paris re-tasting, and the result spreading across the global press, UC Davis had effectively risen to the status of "the victorious alma mater."
Half the judges that day had been professors who were UC Davis alumni, and most of the wines being judged came from wineries that had worked closely with the Davis research institute. In other words, this victory was, in effect, UC Davis's victory.
"Did you see it? The school's name is on the front page of the newspaper!"
"Davis is the capital of global wine education now."
"And among them all, Brian Choi was the one who represented Redwood at New Blood of Napa."
"Two Double Golds, right? That's just insane."
The hallways were literally packed wall-to-wall with people. Some were passing around celebratory wine, others were selling stickers reading "Davis 1976-2006." Students were slapping those stickers onto their laptops and wine sample bottles.
The faculty was completely absorbed in preparing commemorative seminars, and on the walls of the department building hung a placard that read:
[From Napa to the World / UC Davis Made It Possible.]
In the middle of all that fervor, I headed for the lecture hall. With every step down the hallway, I was greeted by calls of "Hey, Brian!" as if I were some kind of celebrity. Most were genuine congratulations, but mixed in there was a touch of envy as well.
'Brian Choi, the Man of the Double Golds.'
That was today's campus newspaper headline.
When I opened the lecture hall door, the students who had been chattering noisily all turned their heads in unison. And there in the very middle of the front row, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, sat Elaina Ellowen.
She was someone who, even when our eyes met, would normally look away immediately without so much as acknowledging me... but for some reason, today she looked me straight in the eye.
"Congratulations."
She even offered the congratulations first.
"Thanks."
"Two Double Golds... they're treating you like a legend around the school."
It was old news by now, so having her bring it up only now was almost disorienting.
"I got lucky."
Just then, Department Chair Thomas, who had walked in right behind, spotted me and immediately pulled me into a tight hug.
"Hahaha! Congratulations! Real congratulations!"
"I should be the one congratulating you. Congratulations, Chair."
"Thank you. Redwood was selected as the top wine at New Blood of Napa, you know. I looked around for you back then, but couldn't find you anywhere."
"My turn was over, so I went home."
"Goodness... You really don't know how to enjoy these events. Anyway, interest in next year's Echelon and Sylphide is already climbing significantly. For a winery, that's a real blessing."
The conversation between the two of us had every student in the room hanging on every word. But Elaina couldn't bear it, and her voice cut in.
"Chair, I was at New Blood of Napa too, you know."
Thomas turned his head and looked at Elaina with great fondness.
"Oh, Elaina, congratulations to you as well. Your composed and dignified presence at the event is something I still remember vividly."
"Thank you. And... I've been selected to appear on <Wine Masters> this time. It's a TV show where the wineries chosen at New Blood of Napa go head to head with up-and-coming French wineries to compete on skill."
"Oh... is that so?"
Naturally, every eye in the room turned to me. Since Elaina's Silveroak Winery had been selected, the obvious assumption was that I would be going too, but,
"I wasn't contacted."
I answered honestly, and it was Thomas who looked flustered instead.
"Oh, is that right?"
"It's fine. I'm sure the others will do a great job."
"I see. If I were to put in a word..."
"No. The cherry harvest is starting now. We're about to receive 200 tons, and there's a lot of prep work for the winery, so where would I find the time to go?"
At the mention of making wine from 200 tons of cherries, Elaina's expression stiffened again.
"R-right. You don't only make grape wine, after all."
"No. And there's so much to do that I couldn't have gone even if I had been invited. Anyway, Elaina, go get first place."
When I smiled and even threw in some encouragement for Elaina, she gave an awkward smile and reluctantly answered.
"Uh... sure."
*****
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