Talliare
In Talliare, in Beneventi, Amarat visits property his mother owns, and often vacations in. Walking into the enclosed space, surrounded by wine vines, he is confronted by a round, florid-faced individual, with age-grayed hair.
"Welcome, welcome, I'll be your Sun'ga, is that how you say it? I am
Fonder Behta, I manage this estate for the
Duchess."
"You are known to me, Vintner Fonder, greetings."
"What? How? Who are you? How do you know that title?"
"Mother would not have given it to you without great care, Fonder, even though it was yours by right, from your father."
"You're the ducal prince? I am not worthy." He bowed deeply.
"I am Amarat Veneer Junior, you've met my father."
"Aye, although, he was quite obviously trying to fit in, he may not have been a perfect fit for all the responsabilities, lad."
"I hear he was great as long as all he had to do was eat and drink."
"Oh, he was quite good at that, and at some of the diplomacy, just so long as no one told him no."
"And that happened often?"
"Yes, I'm told your mother was a common source of 'no'."
"But enough about him, there's much for me to learn about the estate, and little time."
"Why do you need to?"
"Why don't I let you manage the Estate like most Vintners have? Because I remember Ventnor the Vintner?"
"Oh, and you are well read, not everyone has read the story. Indeed, one in your position, especially with your mother mentioning retirement, is well-advised to know of your holdings, and their value. This particular estate is known as Carrera Talliare, the tangled street."
"And we are in Sottofumo?"
"We are in Talliare, the tangled barony. Sottofumo is five kloms in that direction. Milord is properly referred to, when in these lands, as the baron of both, but they are, legally, individual baronies, held in personal union. They have not been held seperately in four hundred years, but we Benevent honour tradition."
"What does Carrera Talliare produce?"
"How much does milord know of wine?"
"Not much, I do know there is a style, Ripasso, that originates here."
"Ah, yes, that is incomplete, but mostly correct. Carrera Talliare, the house, made red, orange and green wine before there was a Kagomei, but six hundred years ago, there was a bumper crop of very watery red wine. The house, used to selling at a premium, would have lost much money selling wine in the regular market. The Vintner then, chose to 'process' the wine, and add partially dried grapes of unrelated varieties, and the skins of wine that had been pressed to make dessert wine. The complex flavours this unlocked made it a banner year for the house, and they have made such ever since, and it's been called Ripasso, passed-twice, because of the used skins."
"And how much of that wine is produced?"
"Talliare makes a hundred thousand hectolitres, Carrera is one-fourth that."
"And Sottofumo?"
"I do not manage them, but I believe they claimed one hundred-twenty-five thousand hectolitres, at last quota meeting."
"So, this very, very small area, sitting in the very productive centre of wine production, makes one-half of one-percent of all Benevento production, by itself?"
"Almost, it varies by year, but the region is famous for making much wine, using complicated, almost wasteful techniques that yield expensive, very profitable wine."
"But the rest of beneventi doesn't use such techniques?"
"They work best with specific wines, they use different ones in the rest of Beneventi, doubly so in the seperated territories."
"Oh, yes, they're wind-sheltered there, aren't they?"
"Yes, but with colder, dryer climates, as well."
"And like vintners in Beneventi, you have that title as the vineyard administrator, not merely the maker of the wine."
"That is correct, a Beneventi Vintner is the manager of an estate that produces wine."
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