Chapter 3  : Good Wine Needs Time to Taste

Ignoring the reactions of the people in the elven tavern, Alan brought the female elf back to his tavern at the end of the street.

“This is my tavern.”

Alan made a welcoming gesture to the elven queen who was standing outside the door.

The elven queen stood outside the door, sizing up the seemingly simple yet charming tavern.

Occasionally, a faint wine fragrance wafted out from inside, similar to the smell on the boy’s body.

She looked at the confident boy, the corners of her mouth curled into a smile, and she stepped into the tavern,

As soon as she entered, she saw clean and tidy tables, chairs, and the floor. Behind the bar counter, there was a neat little display case to display the wine bottles.

The case was still very empty, with only a few wine bottles placed in the middle. The elven queen looked around the tavern curiously.

Alan led her to sit down in front of the bar counter while he turned around and went inside.

He took a bottle of wine from the small compartment and took out a transparent wine glass and a pot-bellied thin-necked container from the drawer. These two things were completely different from the common wine instruments used on the continent.

The elven queen looked at the two instruments Alan took out with surprise and curiosity.

Alan raised his head slightly and saw the elven queen’s expression. He could guess the reason for her curiosity.

Without waiting for her to ask, Alan started to prepare the drink while explaining to his first customer with a smile.

“This cup is called a goblet. It’s used specifically to drink this new wine.” Allen raised the cup in his hand and showed it to the elven queen.

The elven queen took the cup and studied it carefully. The closer she looked, the more shocked she was. She could actually see her own face on the transparent cup!

“Is this cup made of crystal? Why is this crystal so transparent?”

The female elf’s shock was within Alan’s expectations. His hands did not stop moving as he replied calmly.

“This is a material called glass, not the crystal you mentioned.” Alan continued to explain, “Glass is a material made from sand.”

“Sand!?” The female elf was shocked. Such a beautiful instrument was made from sand that could be found everywhere?

Crystals were rare on the continent, and using crystal cups was always a privilege reserved for the nobles. It was rare for the poor to see them. Even the shapes of the cups were simple. Not only did this glass looked higher quality than crystals, but the shape of the cup was also more unique.

It was unbelievable that in this unremarkable tavern in a border town, one could use a cup more advanced than a crystal cup to drink.

Seeing the surprise look on the female elf’s face, Alan continued, “Look at the slender foot on the bottom of the goblet. It is so that it’s more convenient for the drinker to pick up the goblet and to prevent your hands from touching the cup. Once the temperature on your hands is passed on to the liquor, the increased temperature can affect the aroma and taste of the liquor.”

“There are so many requirements to drink this wine?” The elven queen asked curiously.

“Of course. Good things always require a little patience to taste.”

As he spoke, Alan opened the cork on the bottle with a small knife.

With a pop, the bottle was opened. A rich fruity and wine aroma mixed with a faint plant aroma assailed her nostrils.

At that moment, the elven queen finally believed everything Alan said.

This was a brand new type of wine, and it was also an excellent wine.

Alan tilted the bottle and slowly poured the wine into the strange pot-belly thin-necked instrument that looked like a swan.

“This instrument is called a wine decanter. Its only function is to let you directly appreciate the beauty of the wine you are about to drink,” Alan said with a chuckle.

Staring at Alan’s hand movement, the elven queen’s nostrils rapidly fluttered. Her upper body leaned against the bar counter, leaning closer to the wine decanter. She was intoxicated by the fragrance of the wine that emanated from the pot.

As the female elf leaned forward, the magnificent scene in front of her chest almost made Alan’s hand, which was steadily pouring the wine, tremble.

The female elf was already intoxicated by the rich fragrance of the wine. She was completely unaware of how seductive her current posture was…

“Cough — the original intention of the wine decanter was to leave the sediment in the wine at the bottom of the bottle. The reason why it has such a large pot-belly is so that it’s easier to observe the color of the wine and see whether there were impurities.” In order not to let trivial matters interfere with his great cause of selling his wine, Alan coughed lightly and shifted his attention back to the pouring action in his hand.

“Pour the wine into the wine decanter steadily and slowly. Wait for a bit and the aroma of the wine will become stronger. Then, it will be the best time to drink it.” Alan did not dare shift his sights off the wine pot in his hand anymore.

He could not help but complain in his heart, this woman was not an elf, she was a temptress.

“Hmmm, what is this wine called? It is so fragrant.” The female elf looked intoxicated. She narrowed her big blue eyes and asked softly. The charm that she unconsciously revealed made Alan, who had just calmed down a little, palpitate again.

Alan came back to his senses and said, “Ahem… I named this wine ‘Lafite’. Since this is a brand new wine that has never appeared on the continent. I created a new category called ‘red wine’ to categorize this wine.”

The female elf’s gaze shifted from the wine decanter to the young man’s face. “Your description is quite appropriate. It’s as bright as a top-grade ruby. It’s very suitable to be called red wine.”

After Alan poured a whole bottle of Lafite into the wine decanter, he looked at the goblet at the side and said with a mischievous smile, “Do you want to guess why the shape of this goblet is so different from the others?”

The female elf was stunned when she heard that. So it was not just because it looked good in this shape.

She tilted her head slightly and unconsciously rubbed the beautiful goblet in front of her. She asked, “Just tell me. Why?”

Seeing that she did not want to guess, Alan stopped teasing her and explained, “Generally speaking, drinking red wine is divided into three stages. Before, during, and after, each stage has a different step.”

“Before drinking, you need to control the temperature of the wine to an ideal state suitable for drinking. Then, you need to let the wine breathe, which is like this.” Aaron picked up the wine decanter and shook it gently. The ruby-like wine gently swirled in the bottle.

“Next is to observe the color of the wine.” He handed the wine decanter slightly towards her so that the female elf could see the beautiful ruby color of the wine more clearly. It was clear and bright.

“The last step is choosing the wine cup. The reason why the cup is slightly round and large is to increase the surface area so that the wine can come into contact with more oxygen and develop a richer fragrance. The mouth of the cup is slightly contracted so that the fragrance can be gathered at the mouth of the cup so that it is convenient to smell the fragrance before drinking.”

As he explained, Alan slowly poured the wine from the wine decanter into the cup and extended his hand to indicate that the female elf could taste it.

The female elf elegantly picked up the slender leg on the cup.

She slowly brought the cup to the tip of her nose and sniffed it gently. After enjoying the wine’s fragrance at a closer distance, the female elf impatiently took a sip of the wine.

As the wine entered her mouth, the expression on the female elf’s face changed from shock to intoxication.

The fragrance in her mouth was complex, deep, and had a long aftertaste.

There was the mixed fragrance of flowers and fruits, the taste of ores, and the initial taste of oak was very prominent.

The taste was as fine and smooth as velvet, the structure was complete, the flavor was rich, and the taste was elegant and long.

Compared to the elven fruit wine, the fragrance of this wine was better mixed with the fruit and was richer.

The fragrance of the wine could linger in your mouth for more than three minutes, which was the characteristic of good wine.

This was real good wine! The female elf could not help but think as she drank.

She was completely hooked on Lafite!

Alan quietly looked at the female elf across from him, completely immersed in the fragrance of the Lafite wine. She was drinking by herself, enjoying the pleasure brought on by good wine.

Sophia waited for a long time in her tavern, but the queen still never returned. She started to get suspicious.

She might as well go look for her queen. She still vaguely remembered the tavern at the end of the street.

When she came to the door of the tavern, the door was closed, and she could vaguely hear sounds coming from inside.

It sounded like a drunk woman acting coquettishly. The sound was slightly familiar. Sophia suddenly had a bad feeling…

She reached out and pushed open the tavern door.

“Bang!” The door bounced back slightly after she pushed it open with too much force.

Sophia couldn’t care about anything else at the moment. The scene in front of her shocked her.