Vinnie was making his way back to the house on a quad bike. In the middle distance he could see Anna hard at work in her new vegetable patch, weeding between rows of beetroot, carrots, silverbeet, broccoli and potato plants. It was December, early summer, and the weather on the island was a few degrees warmer than on the mainland.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small Holden ute climbing the hill towards his gate. Who was it this time? Occasionally people turned up and asked to taste the wine, and, although they didn’t sell from the winery gate anymore, he always took them to the tasting room and laid out the range available. More often than not they joined the mailing list and ordered a case or two.
As his quad bike left the path and drove onto the crushed-shell turning circle, the ute turned in the gate and headed towards him.
He stopped the bike and stayed astride it, watching. There was something on the back, a crate.
The vehicle stopped a few metres away, facing him. He dismounted and walked towards it.
A pretty young blonde climbed out of the cabin. ‘Mr Darcy?’ she asked.
‘Guilty as charged. What can I do for you?’
She shook his hand. ‘I’m Paula from Pet Quarantine. We spoke on the phone? I’ve got someone here who belongs to you. He passed all his vet checks this morning with flying colours, so I thought I’d pop over to the island, deliver him and stock up on some grog.’
At that moment there was a loud bark from the back of the ute.
‘Merlot!’ Vinnie ran towards the crate.
The young woman followed him, unbolted the tray and opened the crate. The dog bounded out and onto the ground. He had grown more than Vinnie had expected, and his body had become sleeker, more streamlined.
Merlot barked and jumped up on him, licking furiously, and Vinnie rubbed his head and ears.
‘Hello, my gorgeous boy! How are you?’
Paula stood to one side, smiling and watching.
‘Merlot?’ Anna came around the corner, running towards them, gloves still on her hands, her eyes shining. ‘Did I hear my beautiful puppy?’
Vinnie pointed towards her. ‘Look, Merlot. It’s Mummy.’
The dog bounded over to Anna and jumped up, licking her face.
‘Oh, my God! Look how much you’ve grown! And how beautiful you are!’
Vinnie turned to Paula. ‘Thank you. I guess you’re used to these reunions.’
She nodded. ‘But you never get sick of them. It’s great to see pets and owners reunited.’
Merlot barked and circled them, and they both squatted and fussed over him.
Anna smiled up at Paula, tears in her eyes. ‘We’ve waited a long time for this. Thank you so much.’
‘My pleasure, Mrs Darcy. He’s been really good, but there’s no place like home and I can see how well he’ll be looked after here.’
Summer was the time for barbecues on Waiheke Island, and the dinner invitations were as regular as the hot, sunny days. Tonight’s was held at a home which Vinnie and Anna had become very comfortable visiting. It belonged to the potter Louisa and her husband, Andrew, the local vet. They lived on a block not far from Rocky Bay, grew grapes and made wine as a hobby. Several of Louisa’s works had made their way into Vinnie and Anna’s growing art collection.
The group sat on the wide veranda and watched the gulls circling over the sea in the distance.
‘How’s Merlot?’ Louisa asked as she refilled Anna’s glass.
‘You make Merlot?’ One of the other winemakers looked over at her, the surprise obvious in his voice.
Anna grinned sheepishly. ‘We do grow Merlot, yes, as part of the blend. But the Merlot Louisa is referring to is our dog, a chocolate Lab. He arrived the other day from England and he’s fine. Just loves the vineyard. Races around like a lunatic, chasing birds.’
‘It’s wonderful that you brought your dog out,’ Louisa said as she touched Vinnie’s shoulder and refilled his glass.
He smiled up at her and nodded. ‘Couldn’t leave him behind, he’s our baby.’
Louisa sat down. ‘So are your families coming to visit? Now that you’re settled here. I would miss my mum tremend–’
Anna cut across her firmly. ‘My parents are dead, Dominic’s mum is elderly. He has no brothers or sisters, and mine are all busy with their lives. We do miss friends’ – she raised her glass to them all – ‘but we’ve made such good ones here already.’
Vinnie nodded.
‘I’ll second that. This is such a civilised way to dine. That marinade was stupendous, Louisa – you should bottle and sell it.’
Andrew pointed to him. ‘That’s my secret family recipe. I could share it with you, but then I’d have to kill you, and we wouldn’t want that.’
Vinnie took a sip of the wine. ‘Indeed we wouldn’t,’ he murmured.
February 2013
The Waiheke Wine and Food Festival was an annual midsummer event, held at one of the island’s most popular vineyards. A broad rectangle of mown grass was covered in temporary accommodation. A white marquee stood in the centre, and smaller coloured tents were dotted down the side of a gently rolling hill between bays of vines. Crowds milled around, drinking, eating, chatting and laughing. Tired patrons flopped onto shiny metal chairs, around white plastic tables under green sun umbrellas, to rest and regroup.
The summer air was heavy with the smell of food cooking – skewered garlic prawns sizzling on barbecue hotplates, pizzas fresh from a wood-fired oven, huge piles of smoky pork ribs, herb-crusted racks of pink lamb chops, enormous mussel fritters, plump venison sausages smothered with caramelised onions and served in soft white buns … All of the tents were full of sweaty bodies queuing to get to the laden trestle tables. On the other side of the tables stood the enthusiastic winemakers, pouring, talking, listening and selling.
At one end of the rectangle of lawn was a raised stage. People gravitated towards it, glasses in hand, to sway to the music of a seven-piece jazz band.
Vinnie stood on the stage and sang ’For Once in My Life’ in his rich baritone voice. Some of the women blew him kisses, and he winked back at them.
At the far end of the row of smaller tents, Vinnie’s singing echoed faintly over the buzz of conversation. A banner reading ‘Rocky Bay Winery’ was pinned to the back wall of the tent. Two trestle tables stood at an angle to each other, creating a semicircle area in which people congregated.
Gabby and two young women stood behind a table with open bottles of red wine and jugs of water in front of them. They filled a continuous stream of glasses while they talked about the wine.
Anna stood behind the other table, which was spread with single-bowl servings of chocolate mousse topped with a chocolate-dipped strawberry, platters piled with truffles, chocolates and pieces of chocolate-dipped fruit, and a stand of small chocolate bars wrapped in gold foil. Merlot lay on the grass under Anna’s table and chewed on a rawhide bone.
Louisa contemplated the array of chocolate goodies and sighed. ‘It all looks just too delicious! We were saying only the other night, Ava, what a blessing you and Dominic are to island life. How dull it was before you rescued us! Dominic really should join the Waiheke Winemakers committee.’
Louisa was a touch ostentatious, but she meant well and she offered very genuine hospitality tinged with more than a little genuine curiosity. Anna smiled warmly at her. ‘Thank you, Lou. Everyone has made us feel so welcome.’
Louisa picked up a flat chocolate shape and turned it over in her hand. ‘What’s this little masterpiece?’ she asked.
‘A dried apricot, soaked overnight in Grand Marnier, then dipped in dark chocolate, and those are vodka cherries in milk chocolate.’
Louisa gave a little giggle. ‘Dear Lord! As if the chocolate wasn’t enough, the alcohol makes it feel ever so slightly sinful,’ she said in a half-whisper.
Anna ate a cherry, slowly and with relish, the juice trickling down her chin.
Louisa almost bit into the apricot, then frowned and put it down.
Anna suppressed a smile. ‘You know, when I first met Dominic he insisted that chocolate could absorb alcohol in the bloodstream. He made it sound so convincing, I fell in love on the spot,’ Anna said in what she hoped sounded like a conspiratorial tone.
Louisa looked at Vinnie in the distance as he bowed to an appreciative audience. ‘Oh, and I can understand why,’ she murmured to herself.
On the stage, the band struck up a new song and Vinnie clicked his fingers. It was a day to stand back and look at how far he had come, singing on stage at a festival while people sampled their wine and Anna’s chocolate. Safe and warm and living the dream.
‘Oh, yeah! Great choice, boys! Here’s one for all our talented winemakers. We love you all!’
The people on the grass started to clap and sway to the gentle melody as the soulful strains of ’Red Red Wine’ rang out.