John showed us a map of the area with an overlay of the vineyards now under his purview. He explained them one at a time detailing the specifics of each site. The last one, located far out on Burnside Road, he seemed to downplay. “It’s a stressed, older vineyard with low yields, and a late-ripening arc.” Check. Check. Check. We went there first, tried to maintain our poker faces, and negotiated a fruit contract with our boots still on the soil.