Early the next morning, Xiao Yifei had just arrived at the winery when he was told that the old man Hanna was waiting for him in the office.

Old man Hanna generally refuses to come to the winery, but now he must have something serious to do, Xiao Yifei sent Li Qinglin and them to play in the winery and vineyard by themselves, and he walked into the office.

"Mr. Xiao, Takahashi agreed to sell his plot."

Xiao Yifei finally waited for the news. Takahashi, a Japanese descendant, was expecting to see the market of grapes this year, but the benchmark price of grapes fell by 2% this year.

Napa growers who have long-term contracts with the winery, or who rent out plots like Takahashi, don't care about the price reduction. Growers who take the grapes they grow every year to the market and find a buyer are out of luck. However, there is no way to do it, the economic situation has not improved, and it is the consensus of the wine industry to be optimistic about the decline of mid-to-high-end red wine.

Now that the wineries have basically finished their autumn wine launches, according to the current statistics of the Napa Wine Merchants Association, the number of wines above $200 has indeed decreased, but the decline varies depending on the brand. It is said that the price of en primeur at the famous French wineries is also falling, and it seems that the economic crisis has finally spread to the wine industry.

If the price of wine falls, then the price of grapes will fall, and the price of grapes will definitely lead to a fall in the price of vineyards. Takahashi had planned to wait and see if his 55 acres could sell for a good price, but now it seemed that he was doomed to disappointment. After thinking about it for so long, he decided to sell the vineyard to the winery of Monterena.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with the land, right?"

"No problem, no problem with the vines."

Xiao Yifei's question is purely superfluous, although Gao Qiao is the owner of the land, the land has been leased to the Monterena winery for use, and the management is also in charge of Hanna, what can be the problem.

"Okay, let's buy the land, you have always been in charge of it, you know the situation best, this acquisition will be led by the winery's legal counsel, you cooperate with him."

"Okay, no problem."

"Also, if you see if there are Chardonnay vineyards nearby, you can also talk about it and buy it at the right price."

"Xiao, are you going to expand the scale? Buy only Chardonnay? ”

Chardonnay is generally used to make white wine. White wine was popular in the '70s and '80s, and then red wine, and many people in Napa uprooted the vines that made white wine and planted Cabernet Sauvignon instead.

"Chardonnay can also make sparkling wine, and maybe when white wine will become popular again."

"Okay, I'll take notice. It's just that if there are more plots, we need to re-sign the contract. ”

"Don't worry, these will definitely be considered when the time comes."

"How much does Boss Xiao plan to expand?"

Xiao Yifei calculated that his vineyard had about 260 acres of red wine, and after buying Gaoqiao's land, it was only 310 acres.

"Let's see if we can buy another 50 to 100 acres, and try to make them into patches, because it will be troublesome if it is too scattered."

"Okay, I got it."

In front of Hannah, Xiao Yifei called the winery's lawyer to tell him about the matter, and then sent him away.

Xiao Yifei came to the fermentation room on the first floor, but he still didn't see Bo and Cameron, it seemed that these chores were thrown to the assistant winemaker Martin and a bunch of small shrimp. Li Qinglin and the three of them were also busy working inside.

"Xiao Yifei, you threw us here to work, and ran away by yourself."

Seeing Li Qinglin, who was wearing rubber pants, busy working there, Xu Shuyun, who was in charge of watching the power switch, accused Xiao Yifei of being lazy.

"I'm not lazy, just deal with something, won't I come."

After figuring out the situation, Xiao Yifei knew why the head had run away, because it was a complete chore.

This time it's a can change, which is different from the previous cans. Pouring the can is to release the red wine in the tank and pump it back to the top of the tank. The red wine in the fermentation tank and the pomace are separated through the filtration device, and the red wine extracted is an artesian wine and is sent to the empty fermentation tank next to it. The pomace containing the wine is sent to a press for pressing, and the resulting wine is pressed and sent to another tank for processing.

The stupid Xiao Yifei followed them to take over, played with the electric pump, and the artesian wine was pumped into another jar. Everyone took some artesian wine from their glasses.

Looking at the glass full of foam, this was so different from the wine he imagined. After tasting it, it should indeed be called wine now, because it already has the taste of wine, and it is still very strong and astringent. In addition, the small bubbles in the wine break in the mouth, giving the feeling of drinking a soft drink, similar to champagne.

Extracting artesian wine is still an easy job, and the most pitiful thing is shoveling slag and wine sludge. After the artesian wine is extracted, the excess pomace and lees are still in the fermentation tank, and someone needs to go into the fermentation tank and shovel the pomace containing the wine and send it to be pressed.

Xiao Yifei put on rubber pants, boots, and a mask, and went into the fermentation tank with a worker. Standing on the thick, wet dregs of the skin is like standing in a muddy field, with the smell of raw wine in your nose and the ceiling visible only through the mouth of the fermenter.

No way,. The two men began to work with shovels.

Originally, the temperature in the fermentation tank was still more than 30 degrees Celsius during fermentation, and after shoveling for a while, both of them began to sweat, and the blindfolds on their faces were blurred by sweat. After a while, large pieces of sweat appeared on the forehead and back, and it could be said that it was stuffy and hot. Even when he took a breathbreak, he didn't feel cool, and his nose was smoked by the smell of wine, Xiao Yifei felt drunk. Xiao Yifei had to lie at the entrance from time to time to breathe the outside air, but the outside fermentation room also smelled of wine, which was not much better than the inside of the jar.

Finally finished digging up the slag, but that wasn't the end of it, there was still wine mud at the bottom of the tank, and this thing was like mud, and if you didn't pay attention, you would sink your boots in. Shovels of wine sludge are scooped out and thrown into boxes outside from small windows, and most of these things, except for a few that will be used in the subsequent process, will be sent to David's yard, where they will be decomposed by microorganisms and turned into compost.

The sound of the friction between the shovel and the iron pot was enclosed by the closed fermentation tank, making Xiao Yifei snort.

After finishing it, the fermentation tank must be cleaned immediately, and in order to improve the utilization rate of the equipment, the tank will be used for the fermentation of other wines.

The cold water that was rinsed made the two of them no longer feel stuffy, but the strong water flow hit the wall of the tank, splashing everywhere, and the rubber clothes and pants were not wetsuits, and the seals were not tight, and the two of them became soup chickens for a while.

Xiao Yifei was extremely embarrassed when he came out, and he swore a curse:

"I'm determined not to go in the next one, it's a terrible experience."

Now he finally knows why Beau and Cameron ran away, and even Susan, who is also an assistant winemaker.

Martin complained pitifully:

"Of course, it's a chore, and we're left before you see it. This is the beginning of the miserable days of the cellar rats, and there are many more chores to come. ”

Xiao Yifei smelled it, the whole fermentation room was full of wine, he used to think it smelled good, but how can he feel that it is torture today?

Li Qinglin was curious and also went to get a fermentation tank, and after coming out, he was also bitter. The workers are still honestly or accustomed to it, and clean the fermentation tanks without so many complaints.

Following the forklift transporting the slag, several people came to the press workshop. That's where the screw press comes into play, squeezing out the remaining wine from the pomace, leaving only the shriveled skins, David's composting area as their final destination.

After taking a glass of pressed wine, the bitterness and astringency became stronger, which basically ruined the beauty of the wine. Could it be that if you put it in a jar, he will change back? Isn't it just that oak barrels should be placed?

"Why aren't these wines in barrels?"

"No, we still have to do malolactic fermentation to reduce that astringency and soften the taste of the wine."

"I know there's going to be post-fermentation, but shouldn't they be in oak barrels?"

"Now the post-fermentation is basically made of stainless steel tanks, which is convenient to control the fermentation temperature."

"Bo, they don't come to master?"

"No, the lab will give you the exact dose. The winemaker plays a greater role in the later blending. ”

In the afternoon, Xiao Yifei decisively slipped away from the change of cans of Zinfandel, the reason was to accompany the guests.

Li Qinglin's vacation is only 11 days, they went to the Fossil Tree Park on the Napa Valley Mountain in the afternoon to climb the mountain for half a day, and the next day they will step on the plane back to China.

"Let's go, I'll take you to San Francisco."

Li Qinglin said politely:

"That's so embarrassing, it's really an honor to let you, a billionaire, send us."

Xiao Yifei punched him, your sister, why didn't you say it was an honor when you picked you up.

Xu Shuyun and Xiao Yifei have been mixed up for so many days, and they are also familiar with a lot, she joked about Xiao Ya:

"He is there to send us, obviously to send Xiao Ya, the two of us are hitchhiking, hitchhiking."

Xiao Ya was made red-faced and wanted to tickle Xu Shuyun.

"What are you talking about, it's obvious that he wants to be lazy and doesn't want to change cans."

Xiao Yifei explained:

"I'm going to Berkeley to do some errands."

When he arrived at Danville's home, Xiao Yifei began to call people and send them to the security checkpoint of San Francisco Airport, and Xiao Yifei pulled Li Qinglin aside:

"Do you want to work abroad?"

"I want to think about it, I dream about it. What's the matter, the local tyrant is going to let me hug my thighs? ”

"Seriously, if you want to, I have business to do in Paris, and I need a reliable person to keep an eye on. If you want to, start learning French. ”

"No, I thought I came to the United States, but I still learned English, and you sent me to France, and I still learned French from scratch."

"I'll just keep an eye on the United States side, if you want to, I'll recruit someone else."

"Don't, you wait for me to think about it."

"Okay, just give me an answer before March."