AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The must, or what most people would call the juice, was in a tank in the back. She’d been aging it longer than the rest of her grapes, not wanting to disturb it in the slightest. The other tanks in front of her special efforts could be shuffled around, but this one needed to stay still.
His head tipped to one side as he read one label. “Victoria Red?”
“It grows well in Texas, and is resistant to a lot of diseases. The challenge is that everyone else is growing it as well.” She had done everything in her power to change the terroir, the dirt that would nourish her precious vines, in order to bring out different aspects of the grape. She could only do so much. The soil was the soil, but she could change the amount of irrigation.
“So what you’re wanting is a way to stand out from the crowd?”
“Exactly.”
“Why stainless steel tanks?” His gaze drifted over multiple tanks. “I thought wine was made in barrels.”
She pulled two glasses off a shelf and leaned over the spigot for the tank, filling each glass with an ounce of the aging wine. “Because they don’t affect the wine as much as other containers. This way I have more control over the taste.” She handed him one of the two glasses.
“Then no oak barrels?”
“I have those. I’ll also put some of the wine in a traditional barrel to age, but I’m still playing with this. Figuring out what I can make.”
He touched his glass with hers. “To potential.”
His choice of words made her smile. Deliberate, yet open ended. Whether he was referring to the possibilities for the wine or a hockey team in Houston, she had no idea. Or maybe he was referring to something all together different. Either way, she had to agree and held her glass to his. “To potential.”
Allowing the juice to roll around in her mouth, she slowly gave an almost imperceptible nod. She liked how her new wine coated her tongue the way a Cabernet would.
“What should I be tasting?” he asked.
Swallowing quickly, she shook her head. “Not how it works. You tell me what you taste.”
“But I don’t know wine.”
“Doesn’t matter. There are no wrong answers.”
“You sure?” One brow lifted higher than the other highlighting the twinkle in his eyes.
“This isn’t a test, Daniel. I want to know what you taste. You have no preconceived notions.”
He took another sip as she watched. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “Cigar, but not the stinky type. Chocolate. I never would have thought those two would go together.”
His detailed observation surprised her. He was an astute observer and his palette more mature than she’d expected. She could get to like that in a man. Not that she was in the market for one.
“Tobacco. We put that on the tasting sheet, but it isn’t stale cigarettes. It’s a fine cigar from Cuba.”
His third sip was slower and more thoughtful. “Ganache.”
“Ganache?”
“Not a cheap chocolate, but the kind drizzled over a dessert in a fine restaurant.”
She smiled and held her glass up to him. “That is exactly the flavor I’m going for.”
“Then perhaps we should be toasting to success?” He took another sip, nodding his head. “I like it.”
“Good. Here’s hoping a lot of other people agree with you.” She set her empty glass on the table. “If we’re going to make the reservation, we’d better get moving. Kirby’s is one of the best restaurants in Houston and very popular at the dinner hour. Even for the Governor, if we’re late, the reservation is lost.”
“That I find hard to believe, but your wish is my command.”
Oh heavens did that last remark send her mind rushing off to places it had no business going. “I’ll drive. We can come back for your car later.”
“Are you sure it won’t be out of the way to come back?”
