It was a beautiful California day in the small hillside town. The sun broke through the limbs of the oak trees in little spots on the grassy lawn, and Mira felt a smile cross her face as she poured red wine into a clear glass, turning the bottle expertly to avoid any spillage. The bright scent of the Cabernet Sauvignon tickled her nostrils and she stepped back to admire her work. The round table was seated for four people, each with a flight of high quality wines from all over California. The backdrop was stunning, as the fenced yard sat on the edge of a cliff, looking over the sparkling blue Pacific ocean. Mira raised her phone to take a photograph of the table for her instagram. Love my job, she captioned the photo.
She heard the laughter of women and turned around, placing her hands behind her back. Mira was dressed in formal black pants that hugged her round, fit bum, and stayed skinny down her legs. Her blouse was a pale green shade that went nicely with her olive skin, just slightly unbuttoned and giving a glimpse of the cleavage of her ample bosom. She wore no jewelry but a simple silver chain. She had dark brown hair, almost black, that fell into tightly cut bangs over her forehead, and down to her shoulders on the other side. Her brown eyes glimmered with mirth and liveliness, and her sharp nose and full lips endowed a beautiful sense of ethnic ambiguity to her features.
Mira was short, and her shortness was amplified by the appearance of these tall women in their heels. She stepped aside and smiled graciously as the chattering women took their seats, their voices bubbly in a manner that indicated they'd already had a few glasses inside the house before venturing outside. Still, it was nothing Mira wasn't used to. Dealing with rich, drunk, middle-aged women was pretty much an unspoken part of a sommelier's job description.
"Good afternoon, ladies! My name is Mira. You may know me from my instagram, @MiraElVino. Thank you for hiring me today for your special wine tasting. I've selected a special slate of wines based on the details about the birthday girl's preference." She looked around at the four women, keeping her perfectly practiced but quite natural smile on. "Who's the lucky young lady?"
The women giggled like schoolgirls, which made the back of Mira's throat hitch a bit. While wine was her professional passion, her personal passions lay in quite a different area. It was always a little thrilling - and appealing - when older women behaved youthfully.
"I'm Sarah, the birthday girl," the blonde in the middle said. She was the taller of the pair, dressed in a tight blue dress that ended just above her knees. It was quite low cut, exposing her considerable bosom. Sarah was tanned, and had a dazzling smile beneath her black-framed, stylish sunglasses. Her blonde hair fanned out behind her head in a classic ringlet style. She was definitely not Mira's type, though she looked excellent for her age. "Guess how old I am."
Mira laughed. "Not a day above twenty-five." Which was exactly how old she was.
The women all laughed uproariously. "She's cute, I like her. Good pick, Vivi," Miranda said to the woman to her left. Vivi was an East Asian woman, the shortest of the bunch but still over average height. She was skinny as a twig, tiny perky tits slotted into a yellow and pink floral romper that was quite effective in making her look younger. Her skin was pale and she wore a wide-brimmed straw hat. Long raven locks fell down her back almost to her rump. Dark, mischievous eyes sat above a cute button nose.
"I heard great things about you from my friend Jada," Vivi said, quite innocently. Mira froze, just for a moment, but quickly recomposed herself. She had worked a party for Jada once, but they had ordered a slightly different package than what had been ordered today. Mira stilled her heart, trying not to giggle at her overreaction. "I hope the wines are good Miranda," Vivi continued, giving her friend a hug. "I told her exactly what your tastes are."
"Tall and well-endowed?" a brunette on the other end of the table interjected. They were laughing up a storm and Mira smiled good naturedly as she set out little scorecards in front of each woman's wine flight. The brunette's name, she understood from the gossip, was Dana, and she was recently divorced and quite enjoying her life as a cougar. Dana was certainly the most attractive of the bunch in Mira's estimation. Nearly six feet tall, perky but not large breasts, and dressed in a chic shoulderless white top over tight blue jeans, she asserted a boisterous, libertine attitude. Her pixie cut hair highlighted her sharply angled features, moderately tanned skin, and pretty green eyes.
The fourth member of the gang was the youngest of the four, probably in her early thirties. "I'm Claire," she said, extending her hand to the sommelier as she prepared the score card. "Sarah and I were neighbors growing up. She's always been like a big sister to me." Claire had cute bangs, much like Mira's, and straight strawberry blonde hair, with watery blue eyes and a freckled nose. Her perky breasts were not as large as Mira's, but looked lovely in the saffron sundress she wore today. It flowed down near to her ankles, so Mira could not properly evaluate Claire's figure, but she seemed to be a slender woman. Her perfume blended neatly with the wine. Mira detected bergamot and citrus.
"Nice to meet you Claire. And all of you as well," Mira said, shaking Claire's hand graciously and stepping back to address the whole group. The afternoon sun was getting a little toasty, and she wiped some sweat from her brow. "We're going to get started with the tasting now. As you can see, I have prepared five wines for you. The first one we're going to try is going to be the rightmost in front of you, which is a white."
Mira sat down at her seat in front of the table and raised the glass, swilling the wine inside. "Observe the legs of the wine. This one's droplets don't stick to the glass. This indicates a youthful wine. Now, take a sniff everyone. Waft the aroma towards you like this," Mira said, gently wafting her hand over the top of the glass. "What do you smell?"
"Booze," Sarah the birthday girl said, giggling. Her cheeks were flushed. She was clearly enjoying her birthday.
"Lemon?" Claire said, shrugging. "Sorry, I don't know wine too well. Maybe apricots, too."
"Smells better than what was in my mouth last night," Dana said, triggering another burst of laughter. "Can we drink it already?"
Vivi sniffed carefully, wrinkling her cute little nose like a chipmunk. "It reminds me of bay leaves."
"Good work, everyone," Mira said encouragingly. "The prescribed aromatic notes for this wine are apricot and California bay laurel. It was grown on a slope near laurel woodlands. So Vivi and Claire were closest, but really there aren't wrong answers in wine tasting. That's one of the misconceptions people have. It's about testing your palate and learning. Though," she said, grinning, "I doubt it has any notes of whatever Dana was tasting last night."
The whole table burst into laughter. Dana reached out and gave Mira's hand a squeeze. "You're so fucking funny. Do you do comedy?" There was something sultry in her eyes and her breath held an undercurrent of something stronger than wine.
"No," Mira said, raising the wine glass to her mouth. "Maybe I should consider it. Okay, feel free to sip it. Try to let the wine linger on your tongue, and then the back of your mouth before you swallow it. Take note of the palate, which is the flavors on your tongue, mouthfeel and aftertaste."
The women sipped their wine. Dana and Sarah barely tried to follow her instructions, and finished within a few slurps, their giggles growing only shriller. Claire and Vivi, on the other hand, took Mira's advice seriously, enjoying the flavors and swilling it around their mouths. Mira herself drank very little. She definitely didn't want to get drunk on the job, especially given the state of some of her clientele.
