by Atul Todi
His vineyard was a work of love, to which he had dedicated more than a decade of his life. While he was happy just being in the midst of the surreal plantation, running the huge estate took more than two hundred and fifty farmers for the upkeep. They were family to him and depended on him for their living.
With the vineyard in major losses, year after year, Abhay had already lost a fortune to keep it going. Even after pouring millions of dollars for the upkeep, with wine not being a big seller in India, it had been difficult to sell. The international market had been tough to break into. Being patient, he tried to stay positive.
Having already lost all his wealth in developing and maintaining the property, Abhay was still adamant to not sell off the vineyard to people who were keen to turn it into a coffee plantation. He believed that good wine was like art; it just had to reach the right audience to demand it true value. Adamant to not let go of the vineyard he had created, he desperately needed a solution. Collaborating with the French company that the examiners were representing was his final hope.
To make sure everything went smoothly, he was giving them a personal tour of the whole property. He even arranged for their stay at the guesthouse on the hill, reserved for special people visiting his winery. Unlike other visitors, he was giving them personal attention because he desperately needed the deal to go through. If the delegation recommended his wine, it would give a new lease of life to his vineyard and introduce his wine to a global audience.
Reserved and aloof, Abhay did not venture out too much. He liked living a secluded life on the vineyard, disconnected from the chaos of city life. With a few visitors and wine connoisseurs dropping by every now and them, he had enough company to keep himself entertained throughout the year. However, being cut-off from the world and his unwillingness to venture out restricted his ability to market his wine and severely affected the business. So in order to continue running his estate, he had to either go out himself or find a business partner to sell his wine.
While many opportunities came knocking in the past, his cold demeanor did not go down too well with potential investors. He burnt many bridges and lost many opportunities. Yet, he was unwilling to change to please the conniving capitalists. To him they were all crooks trying to make a quick buck.
On the other hand, Anna, a beautiful young French examiner in her twenties, was smitten by Abhay. Intrigued by the winemaker, she was unable to control her blushing. The whole day she hardly took her eyes away from him. Pretending to be looking around the beautiful plantation, she was trying hard to decipher the deep secrets the winemaker was hiding. Listening to his voice, a masculine raspy tone that had been hardened by years of hard work, she was hypnotized.
Inside her head, he was like a mystery waiting to be unraveled; inside her heart, he was creating an emotional turmoil like an unstoppable whirlpool. She was insanely attracted to the winemaker and there was little she could do to hide her feelings. No man had ever moved her so profoundly within hours of meeting. She had no explanations for the way she felt.
She was hardly the type that believed in love at first site. It was a very strange attraction, completely out of her control.
Tucking her golden blond hair behind her ears, fidgeting with her nerdy glasses, she pretended to be normal. Her broken and hurried sentences, made her sound childish. Other examiners accompanying her giggled, clearly aware of her state of mind. They had never seen the perfectionist Anna lose her composure, at least not in front of a man. She was always too proper and composed.
While she spoke perfect English for the winemaker, she quietly hushed the other examiners with her impeccable French. She was surprisingly ok with the rude behaviour of her newfound fascination, but could not stand being the source of amusement for the other examiners.
Elegantly dressed in a white floral dress and a matching sun hat, she clearly was no ordinary winemaker interested in grapes. Her fair skin looked too used to pampering, and her perfectly manicured nails looked sophisticated. Her turquoise-blue eyes were striking and her slender legs perfectly toned. Decked in Jimmy Choo heels and carrying a Gucci handbag, she had an exquisite fashion sense and was up-to-date with her style. Her red lip-gloss, shinning under the sun, gave her a sensual touch.
Strikingly beautiful and extremely smart, she was not used to being ignored and the rude Indian winemaker was doing just that. It was clearly a turn-on for her. Pretending to not have noticed her, he purposely ignored her, while showing the rest of the team the different grape varietal he was cultivating on his hundred-fifty acre plantation.
He gave the visitors a tour of his ten thousand liter, state-of-art facility and the surrounding areas he had developed. Building the Cumbum Valley plantation, which employed more than two hundred fifty people, took him years of hard work and every single penny he had. He was proud of his achievement but needed help.
The examiners looked impressed with the upkeep of the crops and the latest technology being implemented to make the best possible wine in those weather conditions. They were pleasantly surprised, but before making a final decision they had a couple of days to do further in-depth examination. They had to decide if the wine being made there would sell in the global market.
On their way back from the winery, to get Abhay's attention Anna said, "Besides your irresistible wine, I really do love your property. So secluded, it is quite a hidden treasure. You have made this into a lover's paradise, unlike any vineyard I have ever been to. Well done Mr. Winemaker!"
Abhay did not respond, but was amused by her calling him Mr. Winemaker.
Unconcerned with Abhay’s lack of response, Anna continued talking. She said, "If you don't mind, I have a proposal. I would like to talk to you about opening this place up for people looking for a unique experience. I am sure a lot of wine connoisseurs from Europe would pay a fortune to come spend a couple of days here. Have you ever heard of wine holidays? This would be a perfect spot for Honeymooners."
There was no response from the winemaker.
Abhay’s silence was provoking Anna more, but she waited for him to reply back. She knew that she had gone a little overboard with trying to get his attention.
After the tour that evening, the guests were driven on golf-carts to the hilltop guesthouse. Abhay trotted on his horse alongside, stopping every once in a while to give instructions to the caretakers scattered around the plantation.
Reaching the hilltop, the guests admired the beautiful view of the valley from above. Anna stood at the edge, admiring the serene surrounding. She had not spoken since Abhay ignored her proposal; his deliberately ignoring her cheesed her off a little.
Stopping his horse, he went towards her. Looking into her mesmerizing eyes, with a stern look on his face, he said, "This is not a tourist spot and I like it the way it is. It's not a holiday destination, and I hate honeymooners.” The look on his face was frozen like a cold mountain. He continued, “admire the vineyard, examine the wine, and be on your way back. I don’t intend to part with my solitude."
He was clearly not impressed with her proposition and was fuming. In his head he was screaming at her: “Who the hell do you think you are? Making my vineyard into a tourist spot.”
Having made Mr. Winemaker finally respond to her, in her excitement she was hardly listening to what he said. She was suddenly not mad at him anymore. Like an excited teenager, she continued from where she had stopped - "The air here is so romantic and the sunset, it is just so overwhelmingly calm.” Pointing at setting sun, she said, “look at that. I think I can live my entire life here and fall in love every single day. Is that why you live here by yourself? Hiding this paradise from the world."
Speechless, Abhay could not believe that Anna was for real; she did not hear a word he had said. Surprised by her enthusiasm, he did not know what to make of her behaviour. Shaking his head in despair, his anger subsided. Looking at the innocent look on her face, he couldn’t stop a rare smile from showing on his face.
Anna’s appreciati
on for what was so dear to him, made him loosen up a little.
She strangely reminded him of someone, someone who was also full of life and carefree. In that moment, he made an unexpected gesture: "If you want to see more, I can give you a ride in the morning. Can you wake-up at 5am?"
She had heard stories about the hardened winemaker of Cumbum Valley from some of her friends who had previously visited the vineyard. Crude and impolite, his reputation had travelled amongst the wine community through other wine delegations that came to the plantation. Stories talked about how he single-handedly killed a tiger that entered his vineyard. Rumors also had it that he was hiding on the plantation after murdering his wife and the man she was having an affair with. But, no one knew the real story of the uncanny winemaker and no one ever mentioned his offering anyone a ride.
Dumbfounded, she had not expected him to offer to take her around. As she stood there expressionless, no excitement showed on her face. Not sure how to react, she wondered what sort of a ride he was offering and controlled her imagination from taking wings. She was scared and thrilled at the same time.
Without waiting for her answer, he turned around. Facing the rest of the team members, he said, "I need to go take a look at some of the grapes that are being harvested this week. So I am going to take your leave. See you all for dinner at my house."
Instructing the attendants to bring out some fine wine, cheese and appetizers in the garden outside the guesthouse, he excused himself. That evening he found himself being a lot nicer to the examiners than he had been to any other visitor in the past. Partly it was because he desperately needed the deal to go through and partly it was because Anna's charm captured his imagination.
Something about her struck a chord with him. He felt strangely amused by her, and the curiosity in her eyes. She was not as simple as she appeared and was quite different from the other visitors who came to his plantation in the past.
Leaving the French guests behind, Abhay disappeared amidst the lush vineyard. The sound of his trotting horse filled the dry summer air. With the sun slowly descending behind the Western Ghats, the sloppy green hills started to turn purple and the white cloud in the sky, intoxicated with the freshness of the vast vineyard, soon turned deep grey.
The whole panoramic view of the plantation from the guesthouse was breathtaking. Stepping back from their hectic examination of the vineyard and the facility, the examiners sat on the chairs outside and tried some of the latest Cumbum Valley wine varietal. To complement the wine, the attendants brought out local appetizers that perfectly paired with the different wines.
Teasing Anna, Roger, who was one of the older examiners said in his thick French accent, "What happened to you today? I have never seen you like this. You seem quite attracted to this winemaker, Anna. But frankly I don't think he is any good. His wine seems as unrefined as his behaviour. Living here in the middle of nowhere, he is quite strange and clearly not your type."
Staring at her glass of red wine, she swirled it, took a sip and admired the complexity of the wine and its after-taste. Finally, with a grin on her face, she spoke in French and said, "Roger, come on now, he is not all that bad. There is something about him that is captivating. A good-looking man like him living all alone in this vast vineyard, with no friends or family, there must be a reason. It seems like a very interesting story; something very deep and intense. Just like his wine, it deceives you with its sweet undertones before unleashing the complex spicy flavour. It's refreshingly different!”
Gulping down her glass of wine, she analyzed it: “It has so much character; the taste of apricot and blueberry on the tongue and the spicy pepper in the throat; isn't it magical?"
Anna was lost in her thoughts, but Roger, the fatherly figure, looked concerned. Taking a sip from his glass, he said, "Living here all alone, I am sure he has a very sad story. But don't get too carried away. Remember, we are here to buy this vineyard and not become friends with this psycho. Have you not heard the stories about him? So do me a favor and please stay away from any fancy adventure of yours. You will get us all fired. Please!"
"I know Roger, but what's the harm in having some fun. I want to see what this winemaker is made of; he looks so passionate about his wine, I wonder if he is equally passionate about love. He has made me curious; I have never wanted to get to know a man as much as I want to get to know him. There is something about him, something very intense like a burning fire. He is like this wild adventure I have always craved."
Anna could not put on finger on what attracted her to the unruly winemaker.
Lost in her thoughts, she sipped on another glass of wine and gave wings to her thoughts. The other examiners were worried. They had never seen Anna act like that before. She was always very focused and men hardly ever amused her. While she had her share of affairs and heartbreaks, business and profitability meant everything to her.
Anna was no ordinary examiner; she was the daughter of one of the biggest French winemakers, Louis Philippe. His company was looking to enter the Indian market and was scouting for a suitable property to buy and expand his wine production beyond Europe. The team was inspecting all the vineyards in India, and Anna was overseeing the whole process. Due to the unique taste of its wine, Cumbum Valley was a highly valued but extremely under-rated property.
Louis Philippe was known for turning ‘grapes into gold’. He would buy properties at huge bargain, use his expertise to refine the wine and then sell at extremely high margins. He was interested in buying the property and had sent Anna to do the due diligence on its financial viability. His decision to invest or buy the vineyard was going to be based on the recommendation of Anna and his team of French examiners.
After sampling a few bottles of wine, the team went and freshened-up. Later that night they all had to go over to Abhay's house, a large wooden bungalow. Situated on a higher elevation than the rest of the plantation, it overlooked the entire valley.
As they headed towards the house, in the dark wilderness, the clear sky twinkled with stars. Driving through the plantation and surrounding woods in golf-carts, they were accompanied by Abhay’s guards. The dimply-lit house looked haunted from afar. The howling wolf calls from the nearby forests added to the mystery of the place.
The team had heard about the man-eater tigers from the nearby Mudumalai National Park coming into the small hamlets surrounding the plantation and they were scared. Even though there were no known incidents in the Cumbum Valley, to make the team feel safe, the guards accompanying them carried burning lanterns and whistles. They were told that the loud whistling noise and fire kept wild animals away.
Walking inside Abhay's mansion, the team was greeted with freshly filtered coffee from a nearby plantation. The house was lit with soft yellow light and smelled of sandalwood essence. With antiques and sculptures from around India, the place was done up quite artistically. The winemaker might have looked unsophisticated, but he had an aesthetically pleasant taste.
The French contingent felt genuinely surprised.
Enormous in size, the two-storied house was airy and had large windows in all directions. Waiting for the host, the guests walked around the empty house. On the ground floor, there was a humongous living room, a modular kitchen, a well stocked bar and a cozy guest room. On the first floor, there were three rooms and a big balcony. It was apparent that besides one room in the house, all others remained vacant most of the time. Abhay did not have too many guests over; he liked his privacy. He had one old maidservant who looked after the house and a cook who came by every day.
Besides a few haunting paintings on the walls, there were clearly no pictures of any friends or family. Looking around, Anna noticed that there was nothing anywhere around the house that connected with his past. There was no hint about who he was and what he was doing there in the middle of nowhere. The winemaker was turning out to be more mysterious than she expected. His wooden bungalow looked artificial and pretentious, like a house without a soul or one barred of
any relationship.
Finally after a short wait, Abhay appeared in a long-comfortable white robe. Looking at him, Anna told herself, “This man really has no sense of fashion; he could use a makeover.”
After the greetings and short conversations, supper was laid out for the guests. Abhay did not talk much; he inquired about the team’s stay and further plans. While eating, he asked the examiners about their experience at the plantation and their views about his wine. Everyone discussed the different wines they tasted and how it could be sold in the European market. Anna, on the other hand, had her eyes fixed on Abhay the whole time. She meant more than business; wine was hardly of any interest to her anymore. It was the winemaker that had caught her fancy.
Without saying a word, she tried multiple times to get his attention. He seemed aloof and cold; but she knew that he was knowingly ignoring her. How could any man ignore a beautiful girl like her?
Anna was used to getting what she wanted, and his indifference was fueling the curiosity inside her. Sitting and staring at him, she could not help but fantasize. What would she do with an untamed man like him, or rather what would he do to her.