try. Wine can be trendy. At the same time, classic is wonderful and I wouldn’t want to lose that. I want to make something great.”
“So you’re smart to think about buying an established vineyard. Building one from the ground up would take years and millions of dollars.”
“I only have two million.” Only. She tried not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement.
“Where have you looked?”
“I haven’t. I don’t know where to start and I haven’t told Barbara anything, so there’s that. Rhys knows. He’s the one who said I should talk to you.”
“Would you consider taking on a partner?”
Oh, so that was how it was done. He made it look easy. “I would. I’d want someone who would handle the business end of things, including marketing. I want to be left alone to do what I do.”
“Would you consider going into business with me?”
She felt her eyes widen. “You’d want to do that with me?”
He smiled. “Mackenzie, you’re the most talented winemaker I’ve ever met. You’re smart, you’re intuitive and you work hard. You create magic. Yes, I’d very much like to go into business with you.”
“That would be great. Sure. How would it happen?”
“First I’d want you to really think about it. This is a big deal. Everything would be different. We’d be fifty-fifty partners. You’d put in your two million and your talent, and I’d front the other money. I’m thinking about six million.”
She held in a gasp. Eight million dollars in total? For that, couldn’t they buy a small state?
“That would allow us to purchase something we could work with,” he continued. “Something in the area, because you know the land here.”
“Who would run the business?”
“I would.”
“But you don’t live here.”
“I’m looking to settle somewhere,” he told her. “If we did this, I’d stay here, in town.”
“But we’re so small.”
The smile returned. “I’d adjust. Tell me what you’re thinking. I’m not asking for a commitment, just if you can see yourself saying maybe.”
“I’m very maybe.”
“Good. Then I know a winery that might be coming up for sale. A winery that would meet all our criteria.”
Did they have criteria? “Okay, which one?”
“Painted Moon.”
She nearly came out of her seat. “Herman is going to sell Painted Moon?” She supposed it shouldn’t be a surprise—he was in his eighties and his kids had never wanted anything to do with the business, but still.
“It’s amazing land,” she said. “Not just the acres on Red Mountain but the rest of it. Although the Red Mountain land is perfect. At the base, so it has centuries of runoff. All those nutrients. His cabs are incredible. I was sorry when he reduced wine production and started selling the grapes instead. I wonder what his library is like. It could be tens of thousands of bottles. He always cellared well. I’d want to know what’s contracted from the harvest. We’d want to keep as many tons as possible because I can work with almost anything and—”
She realized she was doing all the talking. “Too enthusiastic?”
He laughed. “No. You’re the perfect amount of enthused. He has wine in barrels, by the way. We’ll have to sell that.”
“Is it any good?”
“You’ll have to tell me.”
“He hasn’t really been selling any retail and I don’t think he has a wine club,” she said. “It could be difficult to get distribution on finished wine.” They would need to sell it regardless, she thought. Depending on the size of the barrels, they were talking thousands of gallons, which translated into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I already have that figured out,” Bruno told her. “Give me a high-quality blend and I have a waiting customer.”
“Who?”
“It’s more a where. I know a distributor in China. They want great wine that’s exclusive.”
“Then I can make it great. We might have to buy from other wineries, but with the right blending, I can do it. Herman knows how to make wine.”
Bruno nodded. “Want me to make a call and set up an appointment for us to talk to Herman?”
Her head was spinning, but she liked the sensation. “Yes, please.”
“I’ll also have my attorney draw up a preliminary agreement for you to consider. You’re going to need to have your lawyer look at it. Run it by Rhys, as well.”
Another lawyer? “I don’t suppose it’s something my divorce lawyer could handle.”
“No. You need someone who understands contracts.”
She nodded. “Why did Rhys give me your name as a potential partner?”
“I’ve talked to him about buying something. I wanted his advice.” He rose. “We need to