Chapter 38: Redwood Winery(1)

TL: Hanguk

As we left the wine judging venue, Chloe made a face like she couldn’t understand.

“You really know how to tease people.”

“Me?”

“Then who else? Didn’t you see that third-year senior’s face go sour earlier? You said that even after tasting that wine before, too.”

"I was being considerate when I told him that. You don't understand. Getting advice from me isn't easy, either."

At the absurdly confident words, Chloe’s mouth fell open.

"...... You really have incredible confidence, don't you?"

“It’s the truth...”

“Well, I have gotten a lot of help from you.”

Chloe might not understand, but from my perspective there was a part of this that felt a bit unfair. How much hardship had I gone through to gain this level of knowledge... If some kid in his early twenties tried to measure up to me, wouldn’t everything I’d suffered through feel too pointless?

Especially, what I had told the Professor during this blind tasting was knowledge I’d gained through the research I had secured from USDA-NIFA(National Institute of Food and Agriculture:National Food and Agriculture Research Institute), an affiliated research support organization under the Department of Agriculture (USDA), titled [Phenolic Maturity Kinetics in Pinot Noir].

So if someone tried to get similar to me without even drinking a thousand bottles of wine, I couldn’t help but feel wronged. The fact that I didn’t say ten thousand and gave him about a thousand was me being considerate after taking Matthew’s background into account, in my own way.

“Are you done?”

Mom and Dad had not only participated in the grape stomping event but had bought so much stuff that both their hands were full.

“What is it?”

"Your dad said he's going to study wine and bought a ton. Mom's going to work herself to the bone making appetizers for a while."

“Oh, no...”

It was unfortunate, but as a winery owner, not drinking because alcohol is bad for you wouldn’t be right either. Maybe using that as an excuse, Dad, holding a heavy load of wine in both hands, couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“There were a lot of good wines.”

Of course there were. If North America’s best wineries were clustered in Sonoma County and Napa Valley and the wine wasn’t good, that would be strange, too.

“I bought one for Chloe, too. The wine was pretty good. Take it to your father.”

Looks like Mom bought one to give to Chloe. When she handed her a paper bag with a bottle of wine inside, Chloe beamed.

“Thank you. My dad will love it.”

"Good, let's go get something delicious to eat."

Just like that, our family and Chloe enjoyed delicious steak and wine sold at the festival. Dad regretted that he couldn’t do tastings because he had to drive, but since he had loaded the car with more than ten bottles of wine, he looked like he was holding back as best he could.

***

A few days later, Dad and I met a well-known vineyard broker in Napa Valley. Up until now, we had only talked over the phone about the details of the deal, and today we were finally going to sign the contract.

“I guarantee it, you won’t have a chance to buy an AVA(American Viticultural Area:designated U.S. grape-growing region) at a cheaper price than this in Napa Valley. You’ve already run a farm, so you know, but if you tough it out for just a few years, it’ll bring you a big profit.”

The broker said it very easily, but those “few years” were at least five, and when the time came you could also end up hit by natural disasters, pests, or disease, so it wasn’t something anyone could jump into lightly. He knew that, which was why he was putting the final squeeze on us like that.

“Here is the Pre-approval letter.”

When Dad held out the document he’d gotten from the bank, the broker spoke with a satisfied smile.

“Good. Still, just in case, the contract will include a Financing contingency. If the loan doesn’t come through, the contract becomes void.”

“Of course.”

“Great.”

At that moment, the door opened with a ding, and a very familiar face appeared. Elowen Pike. Dad and I had naturally expected we would meet him, but as he stepped into the brokerage office, he checked our faces and made an embarrassed expression.

He walked in slowly, looked us over, then spoke to the broker in a somewhat sharp tone.

“Are these people buying my land?”

“That’s right. Well, is there a problem?”

“......”

Could he really flip the board here and walk away? As expected, he hesitated in front of the enormous sum of 1.1 million dollars, then sat down. Of course, with his arms crossed and an extremely defensive mode switched on.

"Hmph! Thinking this is an opportunity and trying to snatch it up quickly? You're not thinking that fire-damaged land and powdery mildew are similar, are you?"

Dad didn’t waver at his sneer in the slightest.

“We’re prepared to struggle for about five years.”

“Do whatever you want. It’s not something I need to care about.”

Most of the farmers growing grapes on this land are people who acquired their land at prices cheaper than what it costs now. Elowen was the same, so even though he was selling far below the market price, he seemed to feel a bit of satisfaction at the thought of getting 1.1 million dollars in his hands right away.

With 1.1 million dollars, he would be able to pay off all the debts that were making him suffer and still have a significant amount of money left over.

"Haha, shall we review the contract then?"

At the broker’s words, Dad, Elowen, and I read through the dense contract, line by line, in detail. Since we had already had Pierce Morgan review the contract and the related contents, there was nothing that would be a problem.

After we finished signing the contract in a short time, Elowen said with a hardened face.

"I'll mark the boundary lines clearly, so I hope there won't be any mistakes in the future."

Until now, we had been neighbors at a bit of a distance, but now we had become neighbors right up against each other's farm boundaries. For my part, I didn't want him to see the various soil improvements we would be implementing, so his guarded attitude was actually welcome.

“We’ll never cross the boundary line, so you don’t have to worry.”

At my answer, he lifted one corner of his mouth.

“I hope so. Then go on, work hard.”

He shook hands with Dad, gave us a slight sneer, and left. But in that arrogant look, I could sense how bitter he must feel inside. It was obvious he was putting on airs to hide how upset he was.

“Don’t pay him too much mind. We just need to do well.”

Thinking I was upset about being looked down upon, Dad comforted me.

“Of course. I don’t care at all.”

After that, we took the contract to the bank and executed the loan, and they said it would take nearly a month for the actual funds to come out. During that time, Elowen showed meticulousness by putting up a wooden fence along the boundary line where the fire had happened.

In the meantime, worried that rain might come and wash away the soil, I took workers and covered that wide land with things like straw or coconut mats so the rain couldn’t strike the soil directly.

A month later, the funds finally came through. I could clearly picture Elowen’s face, happy to receive 1.1 million dollars, and after taking out such a huge loan, we returned home with trembling hands.

I was confident we would succeed, but after borrowing not 110,000 dollars but 1.1 million dollars, my heart still pounded. Before the regression, I wasn’t someone this bold. But after seeing with my own eyes the land that had been part of the old Silveroak Hills and was now devastated by wildfire, the excitement grew bigger than the fear.

Now that I could work on it as much as I wanted, I spread the biochar compound fertilizers I had prepared like a mountain in large quantities over the barren land and prepared to plant rye and barley.

“You’re not clearing it right away?”

“We’ll turn the land over in spring. If we plant these in the meantime, their roots hold the soil and help prevent erosion. And later, when it becomes spring and we plow those under, they themselves become a natural fertilizer that supplies organic matter and nitrogen to the soil.”

At my explanation, Dad and Armando nodded.

"So we need to plant them quickly?"

“Right. The loan came out late, so we don’t have much time. It’s a good thing there hasn’t been much rain, otherwise it could’ve been a problem. Let’s move fast.”

After planting the rye and barley, it was already mid-November. I had been distracted by organizing the newly acquired farm site, but I went to see Pierce Morgan.

“Our farm is ready.”

As if he had been waiting, he smiled when I came to see him.

“Ready as soon as you arrive, what do you mean?”

“Come on, I asked you before. The Cherry wine tasting. If it’s difficult, it’s fine, I can contact you when the time comes.”

When I put on a dejected, disappointed expression, he stood up from his seat.

“Haha, I know you’re acting, you know?”

“Huh, you noticed?”

“It’s not so much that I noticed as I asked around through someone I know. But will you be okay? The people gathering will be fairly prestigious restaurant owners in California. You need to know that if you make one mistake, they won’t ever rate wine that comes out of Redwood Winery favorably again.”

“I know very well. And I’m prepared for it.”

“Is that so? Then fine. If you set a date, I'll tell them.”

“Thank you. In return, I’ll give you a bottle of wine each when it ships from the winery, Mr. Pierce.”

“That’s nice of you.”

After setting the tasting for November 25, from then on I went around calling high-end restaurants in places like Napa and Santa Rosa, promoting the tasting. Among them, there were probably places Siena’s dad had already contacted, but I didn’t care about overlaps. I didn’t know how many people Siena’s dad would bring in, and just waiting while trusting only that was too big a risk.

And introducing truly important restaurant owners for another winery? That couldn’t be called the mindset of a typical businessperson. Mr. Pierce wasn’t a businessperson, so he might connect us with good intentions, but whether Siena’s dad would feel the same way was something I couldn’t know.

“You’re going to the Redwood tasting? Why would you go there?”

When the news spread that Siena was going to the Redwood Winery tasting, Matthew came to see her. She was about to explain, but it felt like it would get too complicated, so she answered briefly.

“Somehow, it just turned out that way. And as far as wine goes, I think it might be worth acknowledging.”

“... Do what you want. If a good winery appears, that’s good for Napa too.”

Matthew, who had been glaring at her with cold eyes, smiled as if nothing had happened and disappeared. Shaking her head, she went to the Introduction to Viticulture class and held out the note her dad had sent to the Asian man who was still a freshman, which was hard to believe.

“The restaurants written there will participate. The owner might come, or the manager might come.”

When he checked the note, just as I had worried, only three restaurant names were written down. And they weren’t hugely famous places, but restaurants with ambiguous price ranges. Honestly, that made sense. Who was I that Siena’s dad, the owner of Harrington Winery, would promote it that earnestly? It would be fortunate if he didn’t get in the way.

Mr. Pierce Morgan must have asked a big farm owner he knew well because he said he would help me, but the result wasn’t very good. I had asked Mr. Pierce for help, but the outcome was lacking, so I wondered if I’d asked for nothing, and instead I felt sorry toward Mr. Pierce.

But I didn’t show Siena any sign of disappointment at all, and instead I smiled.

“Oh- thank you.”

No, to be more accurate, it was true that I wasn’t that disappointed. I had been preparing for something like this.

"And my dad and I will be coming too. I'm curious what kind of wine it is."

"I'd love to let you taste as much as you want, but unfortunately the quantity is limited. Oh, the Pinot Noir will also be available for tasting, so try comparing them."

Siena's father had clearly set up just enough justification to participate with three ambiguous restaurants because he wanted to check what Redwood Winery's capabilities were. So...

“Harrington Winery’s flagship wine is Pinot Noir, right? It’ll be fun to compare.”

I planned to give him exactly what he wanted.