My Random Blurbs

Wine About It

Aurora sat next to the fire pit, watching the fiery hues of sunset transform slowly into a dark blanket of stars across the horizon. The day had been much longer than anticipated - starting with a tour of her newly-purchased vineyards, meetings with the staff, hours of unpacking, and ending with an impromptu dinner meeting with 'her' new vinter, Malcolm.

"You mentioned you were thinking of renaming the winery," Malcolm stated as he handed her a glass of red wine. "Do you have any ideas yet?"

 "Yeah, I think this place could use a fresh start. And since I love the stars and constellations, I was thinking maybe something like 'Zodiac Vineyards.' What do you think?"

An uncomfortable long silence followed her question, as Malcolm stared at Aurora, his face a mix of horror and disgust.

"You can't call it that," he finally replied.

"Why not? I think it's pretty good, and we can even name the varietals after various zodiac constellations," she argued.

"You. Can. Not. Do. That." Malcolm repeated sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, you said that already," Aurora snapped. She paused to take a sip from her glass to try to calm down. It didn't work, and she practically growled the next words out of her mouth. "But why can't I do it?"

"Because this is Napa..." He said the words slowly, then paused to allow her to make the connection.

Instead of recognition, Malcolm observed a tightness in Aurora's jaw and a small twitch above her right eye.

"Thank you for the geography lesson," she spat. "What, is 'Zodiac Vineyards' too basic? Do I need some pretentious name that will appease the judgmental wine snobs of Napa? What the actual fuck do I have to for people to stop shitting all over my ideas?"

She was met again with a moment of silence after her outburst whilst the vinter contemplated the depth of her ignorance in this matter. His fingers made their way to the bridge of his nose to combat the headache taking up residence in his skull.

"Okay, first," he raised on finger, "please lower your voice. We're not going to get anywhere with you screaming like a banshee. Second," he raised another finger, "not everyone here are 'judgmental wine snobs.' That's just rude.

"And third, do you honestly not understand why the name 'Zodiac' anything is a bad idea here? Not just in Napa, but pretty much in all of Northern California?" He paused, noting her rather blank stare. "Seriously? That name isn't ringing any bells for ya? Oh for fuck sake..."

With that, he went inside the main house to retrieve his laptop and the bottle of wine they had left on the table. His new employer would be needing it.

One hour, two glasses of wine, and multiple websites later, Aurora found herself rather stunned.

"Yeah." The word trailed slowly from her mouth. "Um, yep, that name isn't going to work out. Perhaps something else with a slightly less threatening feel to it?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out."