Jules was hardly a wine connoisseur, although she did enjoy a California pinot on occasion, and she was keen to increase her wine knowledge, especially with Matt now in the picture—whatever that would come to mean in the few days she had left in Australia. “What do you recommend, besides the pinot?” she asked Matt quietly.
“You should try all seven,” he replied. She thought of Gingernut and even though it was an organised tour, and Jase and Andie seemed responsible, she wasn’t keen on getting tipsy before getting back on her horse. Matt must have seen her consternation. “You can always taste and spit.” He indicated a free-standing barrel next to the bar with a silver funnel in the centre.
She was dubious about spitting out wine in front of Matt. She knew it was perfectly acceptable, that serious wine tasters did it without a second thought, but she also thought it was gross.
“Um, I’ll just taste two or three, on your recommendation.”
He seemed to understand. “All right, then.” He read through the tasting menu, then went back and pointed to an unoaked chardonnay and two pinots from different vintages. “Those should give you a good indication of what the region is known for.”
“Thanks.” He was watching her intently and Jules bit her lip. Oh yes, she was definitely going to seduce the hot Aussie winemaker when they got back to his place.
“Ahem,” she heard from the other side of the bar. “Which one did you want to start with, love?” asked the woman.
“Oh, uh, the chardonnay, please,” she replied, a little embarrassed that she’d been caught out crushing on Matt.
Matt grinned across the bar. “Make that two, please, Nina.”
“Sure thing, Matty.”
As Jules swirled the two glasses of pinot noir and held them aloft to compare their colour, Matt explained the characteristics of the different vintages. “See how this one is a brighter colour,” he said, indicating the glass in her left hand. She nodded. “This is the younger of the two and as pinot ages, you’ll see more of a rusty brick colour, like this one. So, the one in your left hand will be more fruit forward and this one will be more complex, earthier even. Try them.”
She did, taking time to inhale the bouquet with her mouth slightly open, as Matt had shown her, then having a sip and letting the wine coat the width and breadth of her tongue. Only then did she swallow. “That one’s delicious,” she said after the younger wine.
“Now the other one.” Matt watched her face as she repeated the ritual with the second pinot, almost as if he hoped to catch the nuances of the wine reflected onto her face.
“Hmm,” she said after she swallowed. She went back to inhale the bouquet again and took a second sip. “It’s almost like a completely different wine. I like it, though. It is earthier, like you said, but it also has a spiciness that the first one doesn’t.”
Matt’s smile oozed with pride. “Precisely. That’s the magic of it. As a winemaker, you use your best judgement to make decisions about each vintage—and there are so many factors that go into those decisions—and then you pretty much hope for the best. Sometimes it’s lightning in a bottle, and other times …” He shrugged.
“Why don’t you have a tasting room?”
“It’s next on the list.”
“Really?”
“Definitely. Twoey and I have already got an architect booked to come see us in mid-Jan.”
“That’s exciting.” She grinned at him.
“Yeah, it is. Slightly terrifying too, but it’s the next logical step. I mean, I showed you yesterday where we do tastings from the shed, but that’s only on request and it doesn’t happen much. As I said, we already sell most of what we produce to local restaurants and shops. The tasting room, that’s next level, you know?”
“Will you have to produce more wine then?”
“Yeah, it’s a bit ‘chicken and egg’. The timing can be tricky, and we reckon we’ll have to buy in some grapes for the first couple of years, maybe launch a table-wine label. Anyway, this is all really boring.”
“No, not at all. My brother, Will, he started this company that works with local distilleries—boutique ones—and they have similar kinds of decisions to make. When to expand their range, when to open tasting rooms, that sort of thing. I find it really interesting; there are so many moving parts.”
“Yeah, yeah, exactly.”
They were pulled from their conversation by Jase. “Okay everyone, if there was anything you liked, you can give Nina your orders, settle up, and we’ll have someone come collect them. Your wine will be waiting for you at the stables when we get back.”
Jules looked excitedly at Matt. “I definitely liked that first pinot, so I’ll get some of that.” She leant in close to him, “Although, it’s not as good as yours,” she whispered conspiratorially.
He grinned at her. “Told ya, but it is good to mix it up from time to time.”
*
They were back on the trail, heading to winery number two, when Jules heard a call from the rear of the group—Andie. “Matt, keep calm, but there’s a tiger snake just off the trail to the left there.” Jules’s head spun, and she caught sight of Matt’s terrified expression, his eyes locking onto hers across the thirty feet between their horses. “Just keep calm,” continued Andie, “and slowly lead Oreo off trail to the right. If she sees it, she’ll shy.”
Jules saw Matt nod sharply and pull gently on the right rein. Oreo resisted and flicked her head back; she must have caught sight of the snake. One moment she had all four hooves on the ground and a moment later, her front legs pawed the air and Jules watched, horrified, as Matt was flung off Oreo and into the scrub next to the trail.
“Matt!” Hers wasn’t the only voice calling him, but everything and everyone else receded into the background. She swung a leg over Gingernut, both feet landing on the ground at
