Traveling through 70's wine

Chapter 270 Visiting Relatives

After the three-day holiday, Xiao Mingyi returned to work. She continued to go to work at the winery from morning till night. Another day later, Yang Jiesheng left the town of Davis and returned home.

As spring arrives and the weather gradually warms up, the grape vines sprout new branches and the grape fields are re-netted. When the side branches grow to a certain length, they need to be pulled onto the racks.

The main task of Wen Qing and his workers at this time is to cut off unwanted side branches and clear the weeds on the ground.

The pruning time for different varieties of grapes is different. Merlot grows earlier, so it is pruned first. Cabernet Sauvignon sprouts later, so it is pruned later.

After pruning, Wen Qing and his colleagues tied the side branches to a grid rack to allow sunlight and air to fully enter the plants, which is conducive to the flowering and fruiting of the grapes. They also had to prevent mold infection and pests and diseases. During this period, Wen Qing took the initiative to follow the winemaker Lori to check the fermentation of the wine, and transferred the wine that had completed fermentation into French oak barrels and continued to age in the wine cellar.

In the winery's underground cellar, Wen Qing saw hundreds of large oak barrels piled up inside. Winemaker Lori said, "The oldest wine stored here is eight years old."

He opened a barrel of wine, poured out two glasses of wine, took a sip, and said, "You should taste it too. This was brewed three years ago and it has aged well." Sure enough, the wine was full-bodied, with strong tannins and a distinct Cabernet Sauvignon flavor.

Lori told her some techniques for making wine. He stopped from time to time to taste the wine in the oak barrels, pointed to an area and said, "This batch of wine is mature. I'll tell the boss that it can be bottled."

According to the aging ability of the wine, there are two types of wine bottled this time, one is aged for 12 months, and the other is aged for 24 months. Wines with longer aging time are all better, and the winery is going to sell wine again, so everyone is very happy.

Dozens of oak barrels were moved to the bottling workshop, the machines were started, and bottles of wine were soon filled. After being affixed with the winery's labels, they were ready for sale. The winery owner, Mr. Harris, said he would give bonuses, which won another round of cheers.

Wen Qing was as happy as everyone else. She tasted the two wines, and it can be said that each has its own characteristics. The one with a longer aging time is smoother and more mellow, while the one with a shorter aging time is also full of fruity aroma. She feels that she has benefited a lot from working in the winery for a few months.

Wen Qing told Mr. Harris that she would return to China in April and start classes afterwards, so she planned to resign in March.

Mr. Harris expressed his regret appropriately and praised Wen Qing's hard work and intelligence. Wen Qing praised Mr. Harris for his hospitality and wished the winery a bright future.

Wen Qing returned home and discussed with Xiao Mingyi about returning to China. When Shanshan was 7 months old, she planned to take the child back with her. She asked Xiao Mingyi: "Mingyi, do you want to go back with me? You can go back to see the child then."

Xiao Mingyi hasn't seen her children for three years. She is from Liaocheng. After the couple went abroad, the children lived with their grandparents in Shenyang.

After returning home, she discussed with her husband and decided that she could go back with Wen Qing, which would save the round-trip fare and also allow her to help Wen Qing take care of the children.

Wen Qing bought tickets for three people and flew directly from San Francisco to Pingjing City. She drove to San Francisco and asked Xiao Mingyi to wait for her at the airport with the child. Then she drove the car to the corner of the parking lot, put the car into the space when no one was around, and then leisurely met up with Xiao Mingyi.

Wen Qing brought two suitcases, most of which contained Shanshan's things. Xiao Mingyi also brought gifts for the child and parents. The three of them boarded the plane quickly. Wen Qing held the child and sat in the window seat. Shanshan looked at the plane happily and was curious about everything on the plane. He kept asking questions. Wen Qing had to introduce everything to him one by one. Don't think that the child can't understand because he can't speak. Anyway, Wen Qing could see that Shanshan understood.

Not long after the plane took off, Shanshan looked at the blue sky outside the window for a while and felt sleepy, and fell asleep quietly. If Xiao Mingyi had not wanted to go back with them, Wen Qing could have put Shanshan in the space and taken him back.

The long journey made all three of them very tired. The two of them took turns taking care of the child, feeding him and changing his diapers. Fortunately, the child did not make any trouble at all and was very quiet along the way, and they arrived at the destination smoothly.

Yang Jiesheng picked them up at the airport in advance. This time he drove the Beijing branch's car to wait at the airport. He put their suitcases in the trunk and drove all the way back to Huashuijing Lane.

Wen Qing had been away for almost two years. She found that Yang Jiesheng took good care of the family. The yard and the house were very clean. The crabapple tree was in full bloom. The pink and crimson flowers attracted many bees, and the fragrance filled the whole yard. Wen Qing looked at the familiar yard and said to Shanshan, "Baby, let's go home."

Xiao Mingyi rested here for a night. Yang Jiesheng bought a train ticket for her in advance, a sleeper car, and sent her on the train.

Wen Qing got up early and looked at the crabapple trees in the yard that were in full bloom, so she moved a recliner under the eaves. Shanshan sat in the stroller and rested for a night. Shanshan's spirit had recovered and he was playing with his toys by the side.

On the third day after returning home, Wen Qing asked Yang Jiesheng to take care of the children at home, and went to Erxia Village herself to find Liu Quan and Wang Jianguo to learn about the situation of the winery.

The new factory area has 500 wine cellars for brewing wine, and the winery's output has also increased to 7000 tons per year. She went to the workshop to see how everyone was brewing wine, and went to the wine cellar to check the later storage of the liquor. Together with Wang Guozhang, she took out the liquor produced this year for tasting, and felt that the quality seemed to have improved. It seems that Liu Quan, Wang Jianguo and everyone else have not relaxed their work this year. In particular, she was even happier to learn that Changxia Winery has added another OEM winery, also a winery in Anhui Province, with annual sales of 300 tons.

Liu Quan said: "Sister Wen, the liquor our factory is now producing in cooperation with other wineries, whether it is light-flavored or strong-flavored, has a very stable quality. We can also blend liquor with different flavors according to the requirements of our partners. The factory's sales and profits have increased."

Wang Jianguo: "The cellar aroma and koji aroma of our liquor are relatively balanced. Some wineries also buy it back and blend it themselves, so sales are increasing rapidly."

Wen Qing checked the accounting statements, called together several shareholders, and decided to give additional rewards to managers and technicians.

Changxia Winery retained 250 million yuan in profits and decided to distribute 80% in dividends, or 1000 million yuan, of which Erxiacun received 100 million yuan, Liu Quan and Wang Jianguo each received 50 yuan, Tan Yuanfang received 25 yuan, and Wen Qing received 775 million yuan.