On the stone platform of the hillside, Barrett looked down at the manor built halfway up the hill, and at the grape trellises that stretched out on the hills—the old grey vines and the new strips of uncoloured strips were freely tied to the frame. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Clusters of sporadic swaying green leaves are like a sparse sleepy eye of those who will wake up and not wake up.

Unfortunately, now is not the time to harvest grapes, otherwise you can see strings of crystal clear gems and hard-working farmers in the vineyards all over the mountains. This is one of the most important gold mines in Boreham Territory, Morning Hill Estate, a winery that is quite famous in the surrounding area.

"I didn't expect the Earl to really rest assured of you, Barrett! I actually handed over this winery to Barrett to take care of it. Clematis, who was right behind Barrett, was looking at the trellises that were still a little sparse with glowing eyes.

Barrett stretched as he turned, then glanced at his companion with his hands on his back: "Clematis, what are you talking about with those drinks?" ”

"The brandy produced by Château Chenqiu is a competition for the existence of major chambers of commerce every year. As long as I can get a little more quota for the church, I will definitely be able to get a lot of church contributions. I've seen this quest before on the quest panel inside the church. Clematis looked at Barrett with hope in his eyes.

Barrett tilted his head and let out a sigh through his nose, but Clematis in front of him remained unmoved. After staring at each other for a while, Clematis still couldn't help but speak: "I'll pay for it myself!" How many credits do you want Barrett, you say! ”

"Not really. Although I don't have any influence on the part of the auction, as a steward, I still have the right to decide part of the quota. As long as the price given by the Goddess of Wealth and Commerce church is fair, it should be enough for you. Speaking of this, Barrett's voice suddenly changed, "But for those church contributions you get because of this, you have to exchange at least half of them for adventure consumables for the team." ”

The profession of manor steward still has a lot of authority, and the 'gold mine' steward such as wineries is even more lacking. Although those in positions of power do not like the corruption of their subordinates, leaders who understand human nature will never solve problems only by force. Because they understand that if they want to let the horses run, they should be grazed.

Therefore, although the supervision agency of the territory has extremely strict penalties for acts such as withholding, embezzlement, and concealment. But it also leaves enough benefits for those administrative officials to use flexibly -- but how to maximize the effect of these benefits is also a test for those bureaucrats.

The previous winery stewards had their own connections, and they also used this transaction method to get a lot of benefits for themselves. So Barrett's approach is entirely within his purview, and there will be no trouble. As for only taking 50 percent, it is because the rest of the right is used as a channel fee.

"Do as you say!" Knowing Barrett's tough attitude, Clematis knew he had no room for bargaining in this matter.

Looking at Clematis's pursed mouth, Barrett nodded and turned around and walked down the stone platform: "Go to the manor!" Don't let the handover wait too much. ”

After entering the estate, Barrett's handover went smoothly. Although the original steward felt sorry for this beauty, the Boreham family managed the territory very well, and he couldn't resist with a single order. On the other hand, although his position after transfer is not as powerful as here, his status in the system has also been slightly improved, and it is also a good starting point if he wants to operate in the future.

However, it is unknown how much it will cost and how long it will take to operate. So it's impossible to expect the former butler to give Barrett a good look. So after the handover, he left the manor with his belongings and garrison.

Looking at the carriage that was departing, Barrett turned his gaze to the assistant sent by the family to assist him: "It seems that my arrival is not very popular!" Shouldn't we take a look at our products next? ”

"Okay! I'll arrange it right away. The mustachioed man immediately stepped into the side room.

Immediately after that, he brought in a winemaker in charge of reception, and then he led the players to visit the winery's aging storage room with a flattering face - the new official took office with three fires, and who knows if the first fire of the new steward will burn on himself. Although the winemaker didn't think he would lose a job with his skills, he didn't want to be troubled either.

In the footsteps of the winemaker, the players 'crunched' down the oak staircase, one by one, towards the specially carved cellar. The winemaker holding the lantern pointed to the piece next to him and said, "These are the first stage of storage." The second stage is in that direction, and there is a special partition between the two to distinguish it. The final finished product is stored in the deepest part of the cellar, and it is not visible here, so I'll take you there later. ”

With his introduction, the player begins to understand that in the first step of aging, the barrel and the wine form a stable body, which can hardly be separated. In this combination, the oak gives the wine its own tannins and aromas, which slowly melt with the tannins in the wine.

The alcohol in these barrels is called eaux-de-vie, and in the process of being domesticated by yeast, the alcohol is evaporated into the air through the fine lines of the barrels, a process that makes the eaux-de-vie soft, mellow and full of flavor.

On the other hand, however, the balance of the components in the wine should not be overlooked. If the wine is aged in oak barrels for too long, the tannins in the oak will dominate and destroy the wine's original aroma.

As a result, the barrels are filled and sealed for about 6 months in underground or semi-underground cellars. The temperature difference between winter and summer should be less than 5 degrees and the relative humidity should be around 75 percent. This climate will allow for a slow and synchronized oxidation, while at the same time, the wine will slowly evaporate.

After a slow transformation process of the first six months, the pre-aged wine is transferred to another barrel to remove the residue that has settled at the bottom of the barrel, which is exposed to a certain amount of air and allows it to breathe.

This is followed by a second phase that will continue for several months, until the wine itself reaches a satisfactory state. Since then, both the aroma and the taste of the wine will take on different characteristics. In order to give them the same quality, the wines from the same casks are blended. After that, it goes through the process of clarification, filtration and bottling.

In the old days, most of the wines in supermarkets were often blended twice, or even tertily. Now what flows more in the market is the blending of chemical raw materials. Authentic wines like the ones in the game are becoming rarer.

But in a world where filtration is problematic, only spirits from fermented grape juice that have been extracted through two distillations are eligible to age in oak barrels. This is the liquid that has been waiting for years before it is considered a standard brandy.

The winemaker led the players to the deepest part of the cellar, and then he twisted the knob of a barrel and removed several alcohol glasses from the side shelf: "Please taste the products that will be sold next month, the bread and cheese to accompany the wine, I have ordered someone to prepare it, and someone will bring it down later." ”

Looking at the amber liquid in the crystal glass, Barrett took a sip and felt the unique flavor of unsweetened sugar with his taste buds.

After tasting the wine, Barrett gave the winemaker a look, and when he left, he said, "Come with me, please, and let's take a look at the distillation equipment in the estate." That's the craft of the dwarven masters in the territory, and it's a credit to the fact that the quality of our winery is so consistent. ”

The smooth metal pipe was very comfortable to the touch under the protection of tung oil, and Barrett, who flicked the pipe lightly with his hand, set his eyes on the huge distillation vessel: "This tool is rarely used!" Pay attention to maintenance when it is not used. ”

"Don't worry! This kind of guy who eats, everyone will pay great attention to it. The man who is usually in charge of looking for a room said very seriously.

In Barrett's eyes, the process of this distillation tool is very delicate, but it is not much better than it was at the beginning. Considering that without the use of supernatural abilities, technological progress in this area has become very slow - and of course due to the fact that the existing equipment is sufficient and the user has no desire to improve.

Next, Barrett and others were arranged to visit one of the most important pieces of equipment in the winery, the wine cellar. The semi-buried pits in front of us use a traditional mud pond fermentation process. The original liquor in the cellars, as well as the latex-like soft mud covering the bottom of the cellars, are the most important reasons for the different flavors of each winery.

"It will also be an important place to take care of after we accept it. If someone makes a mess, just a few stirs with an unclean wooden stick will affect the quality of the winery's wine for years to come. Looking at the wine-scented pools in front of him, Barrett turned to his companion behind him and reminded him.

Hearing this, the expression on the winemaker's face changed slightly: "Lord Steward, it seems that you are still prepared for this business!" ”

"The stills are destroyed, and the dwarves are left to work. The destruction of the cellar is at most a year's loss. If something happens here, the impact will be really big. Barrett, who touched his chin, then turned around and crouched down and patted Noodles on the shoulder

The soft mud at the bottom of the pond is the residue of the brewing material that has settled over the decades. It may sound disgusting at first, but this layer of stuff is a treasure for a winemaker.

This is like in the process of most fruit wines, in order to speed up the fermentation of the wine, the koji is a very important part - when making wine at home, the white sediment at the bottom of the container after the first fermentation can be collected and retained to become the koji of the next wine; The koji can also be used to make other fruit wines.

Of course, these muds need to be carefully cared for, because once they are mixed with foreign matter, they will come out with a strange smell in the wine. The entire cellar has to be cleaned again before it can be used, and it takes a long time to develop a good mud in the future. What's more, even if everything is as good as new, the new wine will not be the same as before.

In the same way, in Chinese baijiu, the special fermentation ingredients necessary for strong flavor baijiu include cellar mud. Because the cellar aroma of strong aroma liquor is mainly produced by cellar mud, the so-called rich cellar aroma is a commentary on the liquor based on the natural aroma it emits. Therefore, different brands of liquor will have different flavors.

After being suddenly given such a heavy task by Barrett, Noodle's facial muscles were a little cramped: "You can't let me stare at it 24 hours a day, can you!" ”

"That's not true, under normal circumstances, no one will do it. You usually just need to pay attention to any suspicious characters in the vicinity of the manor. Speaking of this, Barrett paused, "The general defense work can be done by the militia in the manor, but you are responsible for keeping the gates. ”

"Really, with this manor, it seems that we can't go out and adventure as casually as we used to." Noodle couldn't help but complain.

At this time, Anvil couldn't help but speak: "Don't complain, don't talk about this kind of treatment, even most aboriginal adventurers are envious!" Since you have received benefits, you should pay a little price. ”

"Actually, you don't have to stay all the time, you can naturally go out when it's time to go out on a mission." Speaking of this, Barrett nodded blankly, "I'll now assign a teaching task to Noodle through the system, and then go to train the militia in the manor." That experience can also ease your burden in the future. ”

"Barrett, you're able to send a system mission!" After hearing this, not only the noodles, but also the other players on the side exclaimed.

After rolling his neck and looking at his companion a few times, Barrett nodded: "This is normal, right?" Since I've been given administrative privileges, isn't there anything wrong with not posting tasks related to this solemn business? ”

"In other words, if we get any positions in the future, we will also have this kind of authority." Clematis was immediately interested.

Then Barrett said maliciously: "Kleimatis, your chance is obviously earlier!" There is still a shortage of priests in the temple of the Northland. ”

"I'm not going to stay in that kind of place!" Clematis stamped his foot and glared at Barrett hatefully. (To be continued.) )