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Easy question.
“A perfect balance of full fruit expression with supple tannins and firm acidity. I think this helps a wine age well and continue to develop and mature in the bottle for years. Most importantly, though, I want to make wines that enhance consumers’ time with friends and loved ones.” Again, my eyes darted to Thayle. I couldn’t look away from her for more than five minutes. How the hell had I done it for so many years?
“Well said. So, what will I be tasting today?”
I moved next to Cos, directly across from Sarah, taking the wines with me. I then grabbed Sarah’s special glass and asked Thayle to come around the counter. Clearly confused, Thayle did as I asked, standing next to me. I watched as Thayle peered at the wines and also at what rested on the counter next to them.
“I know you have time for just one, but there was some disagreement about which it should be. Everyone has a personal favorite, but one person here knows as much about wine as anyone, and as our club manager, does a fantastic job of taking care of our most loyal Grado Valley Vineyard customers. So if you don’t mind, since we were not expecting you this afternoon, I’d like to give Thayle a moment to decide. I’ve chosen three but would like her to present your tasting, if that is acceptable?”
“Very much so,” she said, peering at the bottles.
Thayle glanced around the room as if to ask, Are you sure? There were a lot of qualified people here. My parents, who’d owned this vineyard their whole lives. The new proprietors, my other siblings. Me. But I wanted her to know, unequivocally, she was as much a part of this as anyone. I valued her opinion above all.
“If you’ll select a charm for our guest as well,” I prodded as Thayle sifted through the engraved motivational wine charms in front of her.
Love. Strength. Believe. Hope. Courage.
They were the charms she’d seen in Skaneateles. I’d forgotten I’d bought them until two days ago when I found them at the bottom of my bag. It seemed like an opportune time to use the charms, though.
Thayle took thehopecharm and attached it to the wineglass for Sarah. She then grabbed the exact bottle I’d have chosen too. “I know you enjoy red, specifically cabernet, most, but this, I believe, is the one we’d like you to taste. It’s the Grado Valley Silver Lining Reserve, a white blend and a tad drier than any other vintage. The Silver Lining offers a hint of lemon with a full, rich finish. Notes of apples and autumn fruits make it perfect for cooler weather like you’ll be experiencing this week in our beautiful Finger Lakes region.”
The wine now poured, our entire group watched Ms. Gibson smell and then taste the wine. The photographer snapped a pic.
As we waited, Thayle reached for my hand under the bar. She wound her fingers through mine, and I could feel that they were shaking. I hadn’t meant to put her on the spot, but she needed to know I, and we as a family, had faith in her, that we needed her here.
Though she let go, I at least had an answer to my question.We’re donehad meant she and Min had finished talking—not, as I’d suspected for a terrifying second, that the two of us were over.
I tried not to take it as a sign that Sarah drank the entire glass. Cos took it from her, then washed and dried it as she spoke to Marco and Min and my parents.
But it was her associates I opted to speak to now.
“You knew she was coming to us,” I said, Thayle standing next to me.
“We did,” Mark said. “And can be sure we told Sarah of the passion you both displayed for this vineyard. Not just for the wine, but the people too.”
“I might have, um”—Thayle winced—“behaved myself that night, had I known.”
“Ah,” Laura said. “Behaving is overrated.”
“Unfortunately,” said Sarah, “we must move on. My daughter’s schedule has forced me to alter my own and modify the original plan.”
Marco picked up on that. “We assumed you did it to throw us off,” he said.
Typical of him to be so very subtle.
“I am not quite that cruel,” Sarah said, but then ruined the effect with, “in real life. The reviews, of course, speak for themselves.”
Ouch.
“We look forward to the possibility of one for Grado’s wine,” my father said.
Cos handed her the glass she’d drunk from, now cleaned. “We hope you have enjoyed your brief time here. If you find yourself with more time in the region, we would be pleased to host you on our estate.”
“I will keep that in mind,” she said, lifting the charm to examine. “‘Hope.’ Clever.”
“It’s been a pleasure,” Mark said. “Glad to see the two of you together. We knew it would not be long in coming. Am I right?” he asked his wife.
“You? I was the one who called it,” she teased. “It is both the greatest pleasure and sometimes the biggest challenge to work with your spouse, as I’m sure your parents know. Enjoy it, and keep that passion extended to the wine. I see great things from Grado Valley Vineyards.” “As do I,” I said.
