Starship Starseeker Chapter 6
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When they arrived off New California and established a parking orbit, Sam notified Emily and Fred down on the surface of the planet. They were surprised that the Maxwell kids were already there. It had only been a few days since Ana had told them that the kids were on their way. Emily and Fred eagerly met them outside their home an hour later when
Starseeker
had gotten clearance to land on New California and the coordinates to the house.
After plenty of Utopian hugs and kisses from Emily, Fred and their daughter Autumn, everyone went into the vineyard's tasting area and sampled the wines made there in a beautiful outdoor garden setting.
Sam and Abbie talked mostly to Emily, wanting to know what their father was like when he was still operating Isabella as a common freighter. Adam talked to Fred about wine and vineyards. His parents on Cennet had a vineyard there. Jo, Mike and Erik talked mostly to Autumn, discovering that she was a local guide and led a wine tasting tour of the valley owned by the Utopian vintners.
Mike had always favored beer to wine, mostly because he felt that he didn't understand what people saw in it and raved about. He didn't want to taste an expensive bottle of wine and not appreciate it. His family had wine often, usually an Eden Red. He liked that okay, but he didn't drink a lot of it. He explained his situation to Autumn and she offered to take him and anyone else in his party on an educational wine tour. Emily and Fred stayed behind to make them dinner for when they returned.
Autumn knew every family in the valley. The bottom of the valley was covered in traditional farms, growing a variety of grains and vegetables. There were a number of orchards in the valley as well, supplying the planet with excellent produce all year long. The hills and sides of the slopes were cornered in vineyards. This was where the wine was made. Most of the wine was consumed on New California, but a few were exported off-world at a premium price.
Mike told Autumn that he would gladly pay for the wine that everyone in the party tasted, including the good stuff. This was great news to Autumn who wanted to really impress them with the product made here. The best wine in the valley sold for nearly 2,000 credits per bottle, even though the best wine on New California was routinely sold for nearly ten thousand!
The tour was both very entertaining and informative. They started out with some of the sweet varieties, which Mike and Erik instantly liked. Then, they worked toward some of the dryer white wines. Mike had learned what to look for and the words to describe what he was tasting. Mike had a new appreciation of wine and could tell the common wines from the rare. After selecting one white that he really liked, he found that the price of that bottle was 350 credits per bottle and his group drank 3 bottles of the stuff.
Mike was a little disappointed when they switched to the more common reds, but learned the taste profiles and the language of what to look for in a good red wine. They snacked on cheese and bread with fruit all afternoon. Before they left for the day, however, Autumn wanted to let them taste her and her parents favorite plus a taste of the really good stuff. Since both wines were from the same winery, their hosts presented them with two bottles of each, side by side.
The owner's wife, Josephine, poured them a glass of their number one seller, the second best wine they produced. Everyone in the party had learned how to taste wine properly and to appreciate the wine's appearance, color, bouquet and taste. After one good taste of the wine, Mike could see why this wine was so very popular. At only 500 credits per bottle, this was the best wine he'd tasted all day. He could learn to prefer this wine to beer, but the price kept him from falling in love with it. It was his mother's inheritance, not his. He even felt a little guilty about agreeing to taste the two thousand credit bottle they were being served, knowing that his parents would eventually pay for it.
With a distinctive flourish, Pierre served the premier bottle to them all. As Mike tasted the wine, it seemed that flavor expanded in his head like a balloon! The effect was incredible. Mike had never imagined that anything could taste so good! Everyone expressed their delight with this bottle. Even Adam, who was the only connoisseur among them was very impressed. Pierre and Josephine took Adam's compliment gratefully. This young man obviously knew his wine, and had declared their reds better than any vintage that he'd tasted from around the Confederation, even better than the respected French wines from Earth.
Sam told the owner of the vineyard that she would like to buy a case of the 500 credit wine for the
Starseeker
and a case of the even better, 2000 credit wine to send to her parents on Eden. Excited to make such a good sale at one time, Josephine asked for the address the wine was to be shipped to. When Sam told her her parents name and address, Josephine froze. She asked Sam to repeat her family's names.
When Sam told her Rob and Ana Maxwell were her parents, Josephine asked if she knew Brad and Gabby Maxwell, and Gia Maxwell. "Gia's my mother," Abbie told the woman.
"Brad and Gabby are our parents," Jo told Josephine, indicating Mike and herself.